Harry Potter and the Magic Introvert
by Aries The Ram
Summary: Harry is forced to make a choice during the Department of Mysteries Battle, to be the Harry we all know and love and die by the hands of Voldemort, or become something that might actually Kill the Dark Lord.
1. The Department has Mysteries?

_**Well hello everyone! If you've read any of my work before you know me as that Weasley Bashing author who gives humor and realism to fics, sometimes where they don't belong! HP and the F-T is on the fritz until I can figure out ways to avoid using plot devices to move the story forward…because I do hate "Oh my god we're stuck! WAIT! Plot-device A was found and now we can go in a specific direction!"**_

_**To say this now, because I know many of you will ask, there will be pairings, and romance. I won't say who, but right now at least two candidates for Harry's love are eligible, and right now I'm simply unsure who it will be. Your opinions will be welcome, and you'll see various females (Because sorry, this isn't going to be slash) being considered by our Hero and many secondary characters to make sure you can't just blatantly know who I'm choosing.**_

_**Summary! Harry is running for his life during the battle at the Ministry, wondering just what the hell he was thinking. He is split from the group and finds himself shoved into a responsibility even he couldn't have fathomed. Dark plots, mystery, conflict! In the search for who he must now be, our wand-challenged friend must find out just how "The power he knows not" can be applied and…controlled?**_

_**Third person POV, thoughts are in italic, emphasis in bold. And thought meandering is just…text.**_

_**Disclaimer! I do NOT own Harry Potter, or the Universe he lives in. But I have been allowed to tinker around, so I will.**_

_**Harry Potter, and the mystery of the Magic Introvert: Chapter 1: Department of Mysteries, has…Mysteries?**_

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Spells were flying in every direction, what everyone might think was a flurry of misaimed spells Luna could trace to each caster, seeing the pattern that the Death Eaters were trying to use. It was becoming clear to her that they wanted the teenagers to be intimidated into failing, to be so confused that they simply couldn't duel properly. But for Luna this was more of a pipedream, seeing patterns was her specialty and watching the blasting hexes and various dark curses veering in each direction gave her the ability to nearly effortlessly dodge and parry the spells. If anyone had bothered to look at "Looney" Lovegood they would have their jaws drop at the near dancing quality of her movement, Luna would fire off a stunner towards the nearest Death Eater and continue looking for opportunities to help her friends. It sometimes bewildered her at the thought of that term…friends, the last four years at Hogwarts had been terribly unpleasant and disappointing to her. Finding that Ravenclaws were nothing but children with above average intelligence and a penchant for a superiority complex it was easy to find herself ostracized.

Her fourth year had been both the best, and sometimes the worst year so far, Umbridge made nearly everything about the school an uphill battle and the Headmaster seemingly watched from the background. She knew he was waiting for something and something big. That's when the DA started, Harry Potter had seemed hesitant, even against the formation of the group but Hermione Granger pushed him further into the spotlight and they created a group that Luna was confident would severely brighten the OWL futures of many students. Even her own score probably received a considerable increase from the practical exam…and that lovely Hare that Harry had helped her create.

She looked around to gather her bearings again; memories of the entire year weren't worth dwelling on during a full-scale battle, if one could call teenagers versus murderers a battle. Luna knew full well that the training she and the others had received were perhaps the only reason anyone was still standing, however even with that it was clear that the Death Eaters weren't here to kill, it was a rescue mission of sorts. Something about a prophesy that spoke about Voldemort and Harry, but it seemed that no-one knew the contents of the message.

The duels were going at sedate paces, Luna was becoming sure that they were just wasting time for something, it seemed that Harry had disappeared a few minutes ago and Luna thought she saw the one they called "Rookwood" chase after him with one of the LeStrange brothers. Neville was holding his own, even furiously casting stunners at a rapid pace that she hadn't assumed he could accomplish, Hermione was silencing her enemies and crippling their casting but Luna hoped she wouldn't learn the hard way that many Wizards and Witches could cast silently.

Ginny seemed to be casting various hexes, but nothing that would actually debilitate anyone, and even Luna had to admit that throwing stunners was hardly helping very much, but while she expected to be in trouble after this fiasco, a trip to Azkaban for anything even remotely lethal was not what she wanted out of tonight. She hoped that the Ministry would eventually figure out that something less than normal was happening down here but this was the home of the Unspeakables, normal would hardly be something to consider. Her father…daddy had told her of the gruesome experiments that they did down here, and even thinking of the torturing of many rare magical creatures was enough to make her sick.

Luna could no longer see Ronald, he had run off with two Death Eaters on his tail into a room, and no one seemed to be coming out…it would be disastrous if anyone died tonight, Harry would never forgive himself. She knew that Harry had been rash in trying to rescue Sirius Black when clearly he was not here, but she, more than anyone here perhaps understood what it meant to protect the one family member you have left. She had heard stories of Harry's relatives, and nothing ever sounded good, unless you heard anything from Slytherin, but bias was something they were fluent in. Harry had said he needed to save his Godfather, and Sirius was the one they came to save, so Luna could only put the pieces together and cry later for the family Harry could have had and the life they weren't allowed to live.

Her prayers were being answered, Luna nearly stopped and got hit by a curse when her eyes widened at the sight of adults that **weren't **wearing black cloaks. Although the celebration was rather short-lived when Luna could spot none of them wearing Auror robes, was this the "Order" that her father had spoken of? Even that thought brought no joy when she saw them throwing stunners…this was supposed to be the start of a War! Anger boiled in her blood and she stopped caring, her face staying calm and serene and yet anyone who might look at her eyes might truly be frightened. She could claim it was an accident, and the worst she would get is a slap on the wrist for unintentional manslaughter, she was a pureblood and "Looney" and she would use both to her full advantage.

While most of the casters saw red, except for the Death Eaters who soon started throwing killing curses at the Order members, no one noticed the lithe blonde throwing deadly accurate banishing hexes, throwing the second LeStrange brother against the walls and pushing Crabbe Sr. into the Time-turners to experience a rather curious aging phenomenon. Luna was rather irritated that she could not spot Dumbledore in the mix yet, his "Order" was here and the star had not arrived, though perhaps he was looking for Harry…where had that boy gone?

Her attention split for just the wrong second, she clenched her jaw and tears fell as a high-intensity bludgeoning curse hit her left knee, surely breaking it. Falling to the ground, she flattered herself again the stone floor and hoped that no one would spot her, the curse had been fairly random, having passed by its intended target and eluded Luna's sight. Episkey was the only healing spell she knew…and that certainly wasn't going to help the nearly mutilated leg she had, trying her hardest not to scream in agony she cast the strongest numbing spell she knew and while it was excruciating, she knew she would at least stay awake now.

The duels were getting rather heated and it was becoming clear that the children were simply being ignored in lieu of the adults. Luna was actually quite relieved, because if anyone was hit by the curses that the Death Eaters were now sending, very bad things would happen. Only one Death Eater was still dueling with a teenager, but he was fending off another two adults as well, he seemed to be manic and determined to injure Hermione and while she had gotten off a silencer, he grinned and swiped his wand in an arc sending a purple curse her way. Luna's eyes widened when the curse struck, knowing that nothing good could possibly come of it. Hermione screamed in pain and the sound was followed by a door slamming open from the other side of the room.

Curiosity seemed to override the fear she knew she should be feeling, the bursting door had been torn apart by a very intimidating werewolf. Hadn't Professor Lupin been a werewolf? But it wasn't the full moon, or anywhere near that time, and the Professor in question seemed to be dueling with a Death Eater not more than twenty feet away. Even more confusing was that this werewolf was a good deal more fearsome than the normally diseased looking creatures she had studied last year. It growled menacingly and charged into the Death Eaters at a speed that even challenged Luna to follow with her eyes, not even bothering to be bi-pedal the beast slammed into the Death Eater that had cursed Hermione and tore into him with claws that forced Luna to look away. Gasps were heard and duels stopped abruptly, the Death Eaters still fighting and even injuring some of the Order members as they tried to decide who the larger threat was.

Luna had made her way slowly to the wall, her eyes nearly never leaving the dark brown wolf that seemed to still be on the same Death Eater, until it looked up and spotted another. Lucius Malfoy stepped forward and cast the killing curse at the wolf, and Luna was ready to mourn the loss of another potentially rare creature, until the curse struck the large wolf and seemed to have very little effect. The wolf seemed dazed for a few moments before baring its teeth and running towards Lucius.

_Oh Merlin, if it can't be killed with the Killing curse, what's going to stop it after it's finished off whatever pisses it off the most?_

Lucius reached into his robes and disappeared, confusing the beast, while most everyone seemed to wait to see who it decided to go for next. Stunners were half-heartedly cast at the beast but they seemed to slow it down, and then have no other effect. It might as well have had dragon hide for all the worth spells seemed to have. Luna quickly tried to remember the conjuration spells she had taught herself and wondered if conjuring a few obnoxiously large kitchen knives and banishing them at it would do anything.

More Killing curses were cast but they seemed to be too slow as the wolf weaved by them in order to capture another Death Eater, the Order members were attempting to guard the teenagers, sans Luna apparently who hadn't be found. The battle was slowly switching rooms, the Death Eaters attempting to evade the wolf and gathering towards the "Death Chamber" where laughing could be heard. _Who could be laughing at a time like this?_

Luna wondered if she should stay there, but if everyone left, there would be nothing distracting a Death Eater from spotting a crippled blonde girl, so with willpower that would have made any Hufflepuff proud she crawled against the wall towards where everyone else was going. She sent another banisher at the Death Eater that was straggling behind and threw him into several very hard looking tables. Satisfied when he did not get back up she made it to the door, making sure to not get hit by incoming spells she looked inside to see Sirius Black dueling with Bellatrix, watching the wolf nearly devour another Death Eater.

"See Bella! Even the Wolves seem to hate you all! You should have never agreed to that marriage contract!" Black yelled, lazily dodging stunners that Bellatrix sent with a large grin on his face, Luna was wondering if Bellatrix actually wanted him injured or not, she seemed to be playing around just as much as he was and the grin was nearly matching her cousin's.

"Do not joke about wolves Siri! I wasn't blind; I knew full well what you and your friends were up to! Your form suited your mangy mutt attitude! I just know you would have made mutts with a mudblood if you had the chance!" Bellatrix quipped, sending a very powerful stunner, and Luna gasped when it stroke home to a surprised looking Black. Luna had been watching spells and the other duels at the same time and hadn't noticed just where they were dueling, and looked away when she saw him fall through the veil, knowing that anything that foreboding in the "Death Chamber" could not mean anything good.

When she looked back, the Order members were nearly distraught and the werewolf that had been tearing through a few Death Eaters stopped as its eyes trained on the veil, the howl that it uttered at that moment was enough to make Luna cover her ears. _Oh no, they made it angry…but why would Black dying do that? Unless…_

The pieces were flying and smashing into each other in her mind like atoms, Harry having been missing so long, the wolf nearly massacring the Death Eater that struck Hermione, it's resolve to **only** attack Death Eaters and finally this, the heart-wrenching howl when Sirius Black died…she had to be sure, absolutely sure…looking into the eyes of the enraged wolf she saw the most piercing emerald green she had seen since less than an hour ago…the werewolf in front of her was none other than Harry Potter…

Bellatrix looked heartbroken herself, but paled considerably when the wolf…Harry charged for her, there was no point in saying that it might have been an accident, nothing would or possibly could stop the transformed beast from going for Bellatrix. Bellatrix screamed for a retreat and reached into her robes before disappearing, the other Death Eaters similarly reached for their robes and within seconds the Death Chamber was empty of anyone other than the Order, the teenagers and the few Death Eaters that had either been stunned or Luna had…disposed of.

Luna saw Harry curl into a ball, the beast sobbing and howling every now and then, everyone seemed to be too scared to do anything, and the Order members looked to be making sure everything was settled before escaping. Hermione still lay on the ground, and one of the Order whisked her away for what Luna assumed to be medical care, while Neville seemed to be in shock. Luna scowled before making her way slowly into the room, and ignoring the pain long enough to make her way over to the boy she had gotten to know this year.

Everyone else in the room tensed as they watched the limping blonde come towards the werewolf, torn between ordering her to stay back and fearing that any noise would anger it they watched as she pet the fur on its sides gently, whispering into its ears. It perked up and sobbed lightly, and surprised everyone by clinging to the young blonde tightly.

Alastor Moody hobbled his way towards the two and roughly said "Lovegood, get away from that thing now, it may have saved our asses but it's still a…something and the Ministry has been fooling around with too many things in here to trust it."

Luna glared at the older man, about to retort when Harry said softly in the deepest voice she had ever heard, "Moody…"

Alastor immediately paled and spit in the face of death to reach out to the wolf, "Do I know you? What have they done to you?"

Luna was still petting the fur on his sides softly, cooing every now and then, unable to imagine right now just how much pain he might be in. "Professor…its Harry."

Stunned into silence, Moody looked back at the rest of the Order and barked "Well, get a damn move on! Take them back to HQ and I'll see what I can do about this."

While hesitant to leave, they all started leaving with Neville, a battered Ginny and a dazed Ronald. Luna wasn't sure why they hadn't separated the two of them yet, but perhaps it had something to do with how he was still clinging to her.

"Are you sure about this Ms. Lovegood? Bringing this…Harry back to HQ could be very dangerous." Moody had never sounded so soft, he looked pained for some reason.

"Look into his eyes, and think about the events that have taken place, Harry disappeared, and then this wolf came in and lunged at not the nearest Death Eater but the one that had attacked Hermione. Then it howled in rage as Sirius Black fell through the veil, I think it's a safe assumption." _How am I even arguing this? Adrenaline should be wearing off by now…I should be sleeping._

"Alright, good enough for me. We'll settle this back at HQ and make sure there's a good place to keep him until we know he's safe. That good for enough you Potter?"

The wolf looked up, and Alastor soon found out just how compelling proof the eyes could have been, "Yes…" the voice sounded so broken for something so powerful.

Alastor brought out his own portkey and held it out for Luna and…Harry. The wolf hesitated and inched out a lone claw and all three of them disappeared, leaving the Death Chamber…deathly quiet.

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His senses still on fire from the transformation, his bones feeling like lead, he ran as fast as his legs could take him down the winding hallway in the Department of Mysteries. There was no time to consider the past, no time to consider just how he had come to be like this and how he had mercilessly slaughtered two Death Eaters that had found him. Rookwood and one of the LeStrange brothers would never be found because of him, because nothing you would find back there could ever resemble anything human. So much time had passed for him, making him panic that he wouldn't get there in time, that everyone would be hurt, or worse. He would never forgive himself if this rescue attempt turned deadly and sadly for him it was clear there would be long lasting consequences for this decision.

His ears could now pick up the dueling that had to still be far away, his nose able to detect the hints of sweat and blood, of adrenaline and even pheromones. He could…smell his friends, and it made him run faster than he could have ever imagined possible. A door seemed to come up as the hallway ended, but he wouldn't let that stop him, no longer could simple things like doors stop him from saving his friends. He could smell the Death Eaters, the grime and putrid smell of what might have been Voldemort's lair still clung to the robes. The door was no match for his strength now, even with the transformation being so fresh he burst through it like it hadn't even been there. Searching the room for what he wanted, he growled at the Death Eaters, and his eyes widened as he caught sight of Hermione dropping from a curse thrown by Dolohov. _That bastard! He will…pay!_

All mercy lost, all thought gone, in its place was a rage and fury he had only ever experienced in third year, the time he had blown up his aunt…so to speak. Dolohov would not leave this place alive, and Harry Potter was going to make sure he killed the man with his bare hands. Charging through the groups and ignoring the horrified stares he was getting…he knew what he was now and expected to be loathed for it but he continued charging into Dolohov and tore him limb from limb with his claws. His teeth sinking into his neck and ripping everything and anything he could find. He thought he should be disgusted with what he was doing…but it felt so right, so natural.

The smell of blood and flesh saturated his nose and while the smell of this particular Death Eater was horrible, it still screamed prey to his senses. Once he was satisfied that Dolohov would never be recognized, he looked up to find Lucius Malfoy walking towards him, the sheer bravery of this act would have made Harry assume he had really been a Gryffindor if not for prior knowledge. He had not seen what he was now, but he could feel it, and it was something that should have left this coward quaking in fear.

Harry was surprised and yet not that a killing curse hurtled towards him, but there was no time to move, it had been done at close range and for a moment he wondered if his newly cursed life might end already. But the hope and fear was dashed quickly as he absorbed the curse and felt his heart skip a beat or two, before normalizing. Being completely confused is what stopped him from ripping into Lucius immediately, but soon the dazed feeling left him and he leaped towards Malfoy Sr.

The man he had despised for so long reached into his robes quickly and disappeared. _Damn portkeys to hell, there should be wards to prevent that here._

There had to be someone else to target…there would always be someone else to target. Order members were off that list…but something in him made him consider a few of them. He shook the feelings away and quickly wondered just where Dumbledore was. The Order was clearly here, and his friends seemed to be there except for Ron, so where was the Supreme Mugwump himself? Charging towards another Death Eater he tried to take stock of everyone around him, Ginny was battered and being protected by Kingley and Tonks. Hermione still lay on the ground, but he couldn't think about that for more than a split second before the rage settled again, Remus and Hestia were dueling unknown Death Eaters and beyond everyone else in the room Luna sat precariously against the wall, observing them all with a much more lucid face than he had ever witnessed her showing. She seemed to be throwing banishers, not stunners and whenever he could catch just what she was aiming at he noted that her accuracy was rather good.

Neville was dueling with the other LeStrange brother and it was pretty clear that there was bad blood, Neville was sending stunners at a pace he hadn't even shown he could accomplish during the DA lessons and Harry couldn't help but feel pride swell up in his heart at the thought of one of his friends finding his place, even in such a dark situation.

Harry couldn't even bother to note who he was killing anymore, he feared what might happen when the emotional numbing went away but for now he took pleasure in knowing none of the Death Eaters he took down would ever get back up. The taste of flesh was decidedly unappealing and he simply took his time ripping his foes with his hands or throwing them like ragdolls against the walls. There seemed to be a great many of them actually, more than there were Order members and he wondered idly if they would have survived had he not shown up.

He noticed that people were heading towards the Death Chamber, and his ears picked up laughter. He knew that laughter, and he found himself irritated that Sirius could waste precious time laughing when danger was around him like this. How dare he show up and risk getting himself hurt when the entire point of this trip was to make sure that did not happen? With what Harry could only assume was his version of a sigh, he left the mangled body of a nameless Death Eater alone and hurried towards the other room, not the last to leave it seemed as he heard someone be thrown against the wall. He could smell Luna in the other room still and dearly hoped she hadn't been the one hurt…and he couldn't afford to check now.

Having only just entered the room, his eyes zeroed in on his Godfather, with a grin plastered on his unruly face and Bellatrix dueling him upon the veil's plateau. He watched in horror as Sirius was hit by a spell and was thrown through the veil, not coming out the other side. He wasn't aware that he was screaming now, or that tears were rolling down his face, he hadn't even been prepared for the ability to feel this much emotional pain while transformed but it was burning in his mind with an intensity that he wished he could not achieve. Pain enveloped him, and soon rage followed as he chased after Bellatrix, seeing only red in his sight and wanting her blood splattered throughout the entire Ministry building! Her face paled and she disappeared with a quick reach into her robe and with that, the entirety of the Death Eaters there left. There was nothing to do, no one to kill, he could only howl and cry. And that's what he did.

He didn't know how long he had been on the ground, sobbing for the family he no longer could have…he would have to go back to the Dursleys…if anyone would ever let him leave the building. He had hoped someone would recognize him, he didn't know if he'd ever be able to become human again but he just knew that Sirius would have known it was him…but now he was gone…everything was over.

He felt hands on him and stiffened, smelling the source and finding Luna wrapping her arms around him and softly whispering "Hush Harry, it'll be alright…I know it hurts." She knew? No one else seemed to…and yet she did. He knew he had been getting close to Luna, the DA would sometimes be over and it would simply be him and her left to practice some more while Hermione and Ron left for prefect duties. He would escort her back to Ravenclaw Tower, talking the entire way. Never would he have imagined that he would draw so much comfort from her touch, from her voice…he clung to her like a life-boat and tried to release all of the pain and fear that was gripping him. Even like this he knew he must look terribly scary, a giant humanoid wolf in any shape or form might be something to behold…let alone one that seemed to be breaking down.

"Lovegood, get away from that thing now, it may have saved our asses but it's still a…something and the Ministry has been fooling around with too many things in here to trust it."

Harry knew that Moody had a point, they couldn't trust him, they didn't even know it was him really. He knew he had to make this choice though…it was needed.

"Moody…" he was surprised at the tone of his voice…it was so deep, but even he could feel that it was breaking.

Alastor immediately paled, "Do I know you? What have they done to you?"

_Oh, what a long story that is…_

Luna was still petting the fur on his sides softly, cooing every now and then, and comforting Harry more than he would ever admit. "Professor…its Harry."

He wondered if they'd actually believe her, or If they would just scoff and call it the ravings of "Looney"…Harry himself was having to reevaluate just how much stock he put into that perception of Luna himself.

Stunned into silence, Moody looked back at the rest of the Order and barked "Well, get a damn move on! Take them back to HQ and I'll see what I can do about this."

Harry was able to watch them take out the rest of his friends. Ron seemed to have suffered from some sort of confusing curse, Ginny looked battered from her duels and Hermione…Hermione looked nearly dead. He held back the choked sobs he knew he'd suffer from if he continued down that train of thought. Neville looked good for what he seemed to have been through, he had no doubt that the next time he looked in the mirror, whatever it was, it wasn't going to be something he liked.

Luna continued to stay by his side during the entire ordeal, making sure to keep him calm, Harry noticed several Order members gawking at the sight, but moving on anyway.

"Are you sure about this Ms. Lovegood? Bringing this…Harry back to HQ could be very dangerous." Moody had never sounded so soft, Harry could have sworn he saw sympathy in his eye.

"Look into his eyes, and think about the events that have taken place, Harry disappeared, and then this wolf came in and lunged at not the nearest Death Eater but the one that had attacked Hermione. Then it howled in rage as Sirius Black fell through the veil, I think it's a safe assumption."

Harry would have smiled had he still been human; the logic was good and it made him feel warm inside that she had been keeping track of him during the entire battle. He still wasn't willing to think about just how injured she was, considering how limp her left leg was…hopefully she would get some attention at some point.

"Alright, good enough for me. We'll settle this back at HQ and make sure there's a good place to keep him until we know he's safe. That good enough for you Potter?"

Was it good enough? The entire night had been a disaster…his friends were hurt, the Order would likely swarm on him the moment they knew…and Sirius had…left. And on top of it all, this…gift…curse…ability was given to him by a total stranger out of desperation and Harry had taken it willingly, knowing that this very well could have been the only thing that saved many lives tonight.

"Yes…" the word felt hollow, as if he had just checked out of his own body…he certainly felt that way right now, like this really **wasn't** his body. Moody held out what Harry assumed to be a portkey, and when his hand…claws touched the object, they disappeared in a swirl of colors and sensations…the last thought that went through Harry's mind would haunt him for a long time coming.

_Things could not get much worse._

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_**There it is people, chapter 1 of our new story! I'd really like to know what everyone thinks of this, and if anyone really wants it to be continued. Please, do not assume this is Harry/Luna, it may very well be, and if you like those kinds of fics, don't give up! But I assure you, many females will be "sympathetic" of Harry's new…ability. Will his transformation be permanent? And what logically should occur in the body to make Harry able to even transform in the first place! Radical new (Or slightly new) theories on the inner-working of Were! Wizards and various magical creatures incoming!**_

_**Please Read and Review, it would be amazing to hear the feedback.**_


	2. To be a Dark Creature

_**Welcome to Installment two! In time for the weekend too! This chapter is a bit rushed in places, and not my best work, but it was a necessary evil to get past one of the more awkward scenes that would have to come up at some time or another. **_

_**Thanks to all the reviews! They were highly appreciated and I hope to see how everyone likes where this is going!**_

_**I still do not own Harry Potter, and I can't really say I want to either.**_

_**Harry Potter and the Magical Introvert Chapter 2: To be a Dark creature**_

Harry Potter desperately wished he could get the taste of blood out of his mouth; it was disturbing that it tasted so…amazing, but knowing what it was, and more importantly who it had come from made it nearly unbearable. The feeling of fur was still too surreal to him, it felt as if his entire nervous system was on alert at all times picking up everything that even dared touch him. His eyesight was remarkably better than his near-blinded state of humanity, but it seemed like a small pleasure to have when so many perceived faults could be found as well. He hadn't changed back…and it had been hours since Moody had taken him to his "room" or cell. He hadn't even known that Grimmauld had a bloody holding cell, but it seems the Black's had quite the collection in the past.

_And the décor matches too…lovely._

It was relatively comfortable he supposed, but it seemed this body was perfectly happy with stone to sleep on if needed, comforts were lacking and Harry was wondering just where they planned on making him relieve himself, because that hole was going to be hell to squat over. Luna had stayed with him for as long as she was really allowed, they had needed her to get checked and Harry was practically pushing her away so that leg could get treated. Taking stock of his own injuries had been rather surprising, nothing but a few cuts and bruises underneath the thick brown coat, some spots matted with a little blood, but nothing serious. He was hoping for news of Hermione's injuries at some point, but he seemed to be rather low on the totem pole for people to tell. All he could really hope was that if someone had died, Luna or Moody would have trotted down into this pit.

It had been quiet down in the cell, and Harry found himself cursing the existence of silencing spells. There wasn't much to do but think over everything that had happened, he still felt emotionally distant from the events of the battle itself, and he dared not think about Sirius right now but before that it was a bit of a blur as well. Warren had only explained some of what might happen to him once he was infected, most of it was new ground anyway and that left a ominous tone in Harry's mind. He was the second of something, only the second of his…kind and it was rather disconcerting to know that so much was unknown and unpredictable about what he was and what he could now do. His only real solace was that he did not have to undergo the horrifying experiments that had made Warren into what he was now. Granted, transforming that malnourished excuse for a body he once harbored into the lean muscular wolf he was now had been no picnic, he would have traded for a crucio if the option had been available. Still, he got it easy…if you could use that word in any form for this particular situation. He had looked so beaten, Warren did, completely hopeless and had abandoned hope a long time ago.

_To even consider the treatment he must have been through…the chains may have been more to protect Warren from himself more than protect any Unspeakables at that point…_

He had told Harry a bit of what his situation was, Warren had felt more than a small amount of bitterness towards the Ministry for goading him into the building with promises of Wolfsbane and then strapping him down and pouring only Merlin knows what down his throat and was only too happy to relay the events to someone who might actually care. He hadn't even known if it was weeks or months that had been in that hellhole and Harry really didn't want to consider the thought of **years** in there.

Harry shook his head, wondering just what he was thinking opening that last door, at the end of the hallway. He could have just turned around and gone back…but something in him had called, and it was that same feeling he had gotten that brought him to the Ministry in the first place, that panic and protectiveness. He had opened the door that would change his life forever, and it had slammed and locked behind him without even a moment's notice, leaving Harry to behold the chained beast against the wall. Smirking to himself, Harry felt quite proud that he hadn't pissed himself in fear at the sight, like during that first Tri-Wizard event.

The large wolf, much larger than Harry could assume that he now was…it seemed that his form was related to his age…the thought of being even more monstrous was slightly nauseating, but he did have to admit that Warren did strike a very imposing figure, even having been beaten into despair. Harry remembered trying to open the door again for a few minutes, nothing seemed to work and while he was finally impressed that the Ministry was smart enough to use decent traps, it came at a decidedly horrid time.

Saying that he had been surprised when the wolf asked him a question would be the understatement of the semester, he had spun around so quickly he probably should have fell to the floor.

_He didn't even know who I was… He asked what my name was and when I told him, he didn't even blink…he was down there far too long. _

Pleasantries were established and when the wolf who had finally introduced himself as Warren Gardner explained that the door would not open again until an authorized Unspeakable came, Harry slumped down to the floor and wallowed for a while in his own depression. He had been beyond pain or outrage, the entire night had taken nearly everything from him already and he still **needed** to save his friends. He had vented his frustrations out without knowing he was thinking aloud and soon Warren commiserated, telling his own story.

Born somewhere in southern Devon, he had grown up normally, two parents and a sibling. They weren't rich purebloods or poor "bloodtraitors", instead Warren was a middle-class muggleborn who came into the world of Witchcraft and Wizardry the same way Hermione probably had. His years at Hogwarts were nowhere near as eventful as Harry's and while the two had been in the depths of a very dark situation, they both joked back and forth about that fact. Warren had actually laughed when told about the awkward time-travel debacle at the end of his third year.

After Hogwarts Warren said he had found a former Ravenclaw that he had fancied and dated her seriously while working as a Curse-breaker, the job had been too hectic to form a family and so he had dropped it for a "terribly droll" desk job at the Ministry. Not long after that he had been bitten, he had panicked as one could imagine and while his family did not loathe him, his Ministry job evaporated in the light of his "dark nature". Finding small jobs and trying his damndest to support his wife and little girl, Warren was unable to buy Wolfsbane any longer and went several months without it, never knowing just what…or who he might have harmed. The Ministry then offered him a deal, Wolfsbane for participation in a few Werewolf cure experiments. He spoke of feeling that perhaps it was a stone that could kill both birds, and agreed readily only to be locked up and never see his loved ones again.

He explained some of what he thought they did to him, various runes had been carved into his skin by that point but were covered by fur. He spoke of several rather nasty and painful potions, and a whole book worth of rituals and cursed items being forced on him.

He did learn one thing about his…condition while overhearing the Unspeakables though; he was no longer human at all. He was pure-blood whatever the hell he was and with that died any hope of ever being normal again. The once blonde haired and lightly tanned charmer had been turned into even more of a beast by the Ministry, only his kind blue eyes staying with him.

Harry's thoughts were broken when footsteps could be heard, looking over to see an older woman, perhaps Tonks' age with brown hair and familiar blue eyes. Harry found himself oddly uninterested, until of course the smell of raw meat filtered into his nostrils.

_That __**really**__ should not smell so tasty…_

The attractive older woman stood a few feet away from the barred cell and tilted her head to the side, "They told me we had a werewolf down here, but I honestly thought it was a prank when they said it was transformed."

It became clear to Harry that she wasn't really speaking to him, merely thinking out loud, but it wouldn't hurt to shock her a bit…

"Trust me; it's quite the surprise for me as well."

She dropped the platter and gasped, evoking a few deep chuckles from the wolf.

"Werewolves can't speak! Not while transformed!" she choked.

_Really now, didn't I just prove that to be wrong?_

"Then I guess I'm not a werewolf." Harry said simply. "Are you going to give me that meat? I'm sure I'll still eat it, even if it's been on the floor."

She shakily put the steak back onto the platter and shoved it into the cell, instead of devouring it like she had expected, the creature in front of her practically used its claws as utensils!

"Wolfsbane?" she asked, though Harry really wondered if she'd still assume he was a normal werewolf much longer.

"No, afraid not." Was the only answer she got, until he lazily chewed a cut up piece of steak before asking, "What's your name?"

"Hestia… and yours?"

_Hestia Jones from the guard? Could have sworn she had darker hair…_

"Harry, pleasure to meet you Hestia."

The woman, Hestia, seemed to be baffled as to why she was having a conversation with him. Harry was finding himself amused; and after all, what's better than a dinner **and** a show? At least it was stopping him from brooding, that certainly hadn't helped him any in the last few hours.

"Likewise Harry, I'm serious when I say I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm on duty and need to head back up. I haven't been told what you're doing here, but if this experience is to mean anything, you certain don't seem to need to be caged."

Harry nodded, "True, but can you say that the rest would be comfortable with a transformed wolf walking amongst them? Even if you were to say I was safe to be around, it wouldn't make much difference. Just think about what the portrait in the hallway would have to say, dark creatures roaming her home unbidden and not being euthanized." He found himself grinning by the end of his little joke, but he worried a bit when Hestia paled, was grinning the equivalent of baring his teeth now?

"You know about Walburga Black?"

Harry looked up into her eyes for a moment…she didn't know?

"Yes, considering my Godfather lived here." Saying it was harder than he had thought, but the clue was obvious enough, she'd get there.

Harry watched as the gears rolled in her mind, her pale skin returning to normal before her eyes widened remarkably.

"Harry…Potter?"

Harry smirked, _bingo!_

"I'd say the one and only, but I can't be sure of that now can I?"

Hestia had been backing away to get ready to leave, but now her hands were up against the bars of his cell and she had this shocked look plastered to her face.

"What happened! I saw you run off during that battle, you little bugger, but are you telling me that boy is the werewolf in front of me? That Harry Potter tore Dolohov to shreds and left Augustus Rookwood and a LeStrange brother; whom I might add are the fiercest Death Eaters I know, in bloody shreds?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, and thought that maybe he shouldn't mention the other five he **knew** were probably dead.

"About sums it up."

"Merlin…"

"No, my name is Harry, but that's sweet of you." _Just where has this sense of humor come from? You better not be haunting my psyche Sirius!_

"Just where did the brooding teenager we had here this past summer go?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, he wasn't at all feeling what he **assumed** he should be feeling. There was pain and grief, but no depression of sorts, none of that sadness that he had felt even right before the infection. He had thought that maybe it was emotional detachment that kept him from feeling guilty about the deaths of the Death Eaters, but somehow he just **knew** that he had done the right thing. It wasn't one thing or another, a pros and cons sort of deal, or even a bullet point presentation…he just knew that he did the right thing. The only thing he could say he regretted was that he had brought his friends along for the ride, and that Sirius had to pay the ultimate price.

"Gone…I think." Was his reply; it seemed so true, that Harry Potter had somehow just disappeared and in his wake this…thing remained. Was he really the same person? Would he care? Somehow he doubted it, even now he could feel that simply living was easier this way…he knew there would be obstacles, like Hogwarts and his friends, even the Ministry…but somehow his mind was just not geared towards worrying anymore. Was it the wolf? Was he just unable to think about the future in that kind of context anymore? So many questions…and Harry was wondering just what he would have to do to get answers.

His answer brought on a fairly uncomfortable silence, until Hestia looked back towards the door. "Potter…Harry, I need to go. Does everyone know what happened?"

He shook his head, though honestly he didn't know if Moody had gotten the chance to inform them yet. "I don't think so, Luna…err Ms. Lovegood was the one who figured it out, and she told Moody, and frankly I believe he is the only reason I'm sitting in this cell and not chained up to a stone wall."

Hestia scowled for a moment, looking very bothered, "Why would they chain you to a wall? Werewolves are still allowed to live on their own, so far…"

Harry barked, though it was supposed to be a laugh. "Oh, I'm unsure if I could be classified as a werewolf Hestia, and I'd be chained to a wall because that's **exactly** where I found the one who infected me."

Hestia paled at the thought, Harry remembered that she worked at the Ministry and thought that perhaps she hadn't be aware of the more seedy things that her workplace did.

"Before you go, how is Hermione?"

Hestia smirked, her eyes lighting up in a way Harry hadn't been aware you could observe. _Why is she smirking at me?_

"Oh, she's recovering; they say she'll make a full recovery too by the looks of it. Dolohov sent a pretty nasty curse at her that will scar some, but the organ failure was averted. Your girlfriend is safe to follow you another day."

_Oh, thank Merlin she's alright. I thought my heart would explode when I saw her get hit, organ failure? Glad the bastards' dead, and somehow knowing I'm the one who did it makes it a bit sweeter…wait...girlfriend?_

"What? Girlfriend?" he spluttered, still hoping he heard wrong.

Hestia's smirk fell, but she giggled…she was definitely Tonks' friend.

"Sorry, assumptions and all. So then its you and Ms. Lovegood…Luna wasn't it?"

"No! Neither of them!" at this point Harry was praying that Hestia couldn't tell how embarrassed he was from his voice; it was getting rather high for a werewolf.

That damnable smirk was back on her face, "Miss Weasley then? Didn't take you for a guy who'd take a girl who looked like his mother…"

_Ginny…what? Mother….what? No!_

"No! Of course not!" he howled.

"So your mother wasn't pretty enough for you Potter?"

"NO! I mean….yes! No! Damn it!" he screamed, getting completely confused.

* * *

Hestia was holding onto her sides, laughing herself silly. Harry was seething by this point, she was definitely somehow a friend of Tonks.

"I'm gonna go, but unless you're a chaser for another kind of quaffle, you better get your arse in gear Harry, three lovely witches and you don't like any of them? Picky picky…" and with that Hestia left the growling Harry Potter, a half-eaten steak left ignored on the floor of his cell…

Hestia was still laughing as she left the basement dungeons, even in that extremely imposing body, Harry Potter was still the fifteen year old she had witnessed that last summer. The boy clearly did not get the womanizing traits that Sirius tried desperately to put into him. Some of the conversations held in that kitchen were enough to make even **her **blush. She couldn't help but be more than a little curious as to what could have possibly made Harry Potter, the "Chosen One" into what by the Ministry's classification a "Dark Creature". If this ever got out to the Minister, they'd have a field day and poor Harry would be ostracized even more, he'd be the new Fenrir. "Crazed Boy Wolf on the prowl! Keep your children inside!" she could see it now…and it wasn't a very pleasant thought.

The skirmish in the Department of Mysteries had been more dangerous than she had expected, they had gone in assuming it would be just enough Death Eaters to capture Harry…meaning probably just one or two. However coming to nearly a small army of apparently fairly trained Death Eaters was not what she expected. Keeping the kids alive had been her main priority, but she managed to stun a few of them while doing so. She wasn't exactly excited about using stunners while green curses flew in her face and she knew damn well that Moody felt the same way. But Dumbledore had been adamant that no lethal force be used… a lot of worth that was since he hadn't even shown up like he said he would. Merlin forbid You-Know-Who actually show up, killing them all and the Great Albus Dumbledore found nowhere in sight.

No, Hestia Kimberly (Don't you ever call me Kim) Jones was not a believer in the infallibleness of Albus Dumbledore, but the Ministry was useless on this front and she didn't see anyone else standing up and saying "I'll kill the bastard!" so she was forced to pick the lesser of two evils. Every day she wondered if that decision would lead to an untimely death.

She didn't regret joining the Order really, she had just been told stories from Moody about the first War, and how the Order had operated then, when it was "founded" by Albus, but run by Alastor Moody, with Gideon and Fabian Prewitt. The stories of costly battles and constant fighting, a true war over who would control Wizarding Britain, stories of how the other nations got involved, how Dark Creatures and other races alike became involved to help settle everything. This was nothing compared to that, and Hestia wondered if it would even be a fight if You-Know-Who stepped up his game. She had no doubts about whether or not the Dark wizard was back, Moody believed Harry after a quick trip through a penseive and Hestia felt that was good enough, then-fourteen year old could manipulate his memories.

She had been walking on auto-pilot, thinking over everything, passing by the dark and musty hallways of Grimmauld Place. A terrible headquarters if she had ever thought much on it, and it was still a little unnerving to have Sirius Black roaming around the house and a crazed House-Elf determined to die an "honorable death". Nothing about this place had ever given her the impression that it could have been a "home" and frankly she wouldn't be surprised that Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix LeStrange might go dark growing up in this mothball pit.

"Jones, get in here before they start the meeting already. We've been waiting on you to get back for ages!" Moody barked, coming out of the "Meeting Room", a terribly useless name dubbed to the dining room.

"Coming!" she yelled, half-jogging to the door and coming into a fairly crowded room. Sitting at the head of the table of course was Dumbledore, with Alastor taking the seat to his right, and Minerva on the left. Diggle and the nearly perma-stoned thief sat together whispering about something while Remus Lupin sat opposite, doing the same with Moody, Hestia held in a smirk when Tonks sat next to Remus and joined the conversation seamlessly. Snape, the old bat, sat quietly awaiting the very moment he could finally leave. The Weasleys took their seats at the other end, Arthur looking tired as usual and Molly taking on an air of authority she usually didn't deserve… Hestia couldn't help but have a bit of a grudge after Molly passively insulted her cooking one night…

Dumbledore set off a few sparks to signal the beginning of the meeting and Hestia tried very hard not to put her head on her fist, this likely wouldn't at all be exciting. _I wonder how Harry passes the time? This must look extremely exciting compared to what he's getting used to._

"Settle down everyone, we have much to discuss tonight and Severus needs to be back by nine."

_What are you, his date?_

She could tell that Lupin was thinking the same if his snickering was anything to go by, clearly Snape himself was **very** unhappy with the wording….oh to have grown up around Muggles.

"Firstly, the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, I feel we should have a moment of silence in respect to the death of Sirius Orion Black tonight."

Silence was like a blanket, Remus looked heartbroken, as did the Weasleys and even Severus could not find it in himself to smirk.

"While the death of one of our own is a tragedy, we were able to capture many Death Eaters before the rest retreated, and the children survived the night thanks to everyone here tonight. The Death Eaters we capture are now being hauled to Auror cells to be sent to Azkaban."

_Wait…we __**left**__ them there? They could have had information we need! Damn it Dumbledore when are you going to get your head out of your arse!_

"Albus…are you saying that we had a chance to hold known and practically convicted Death Eaters in our holding cells…that are paid for…and we left them there? Black died tonight Albus!" Alastor seemed to be more than a little angry, Dumbledore must have gone behind his back on this while Moody took care of Harry.

"Of course Alastor, I know... what else could we have done? The Death Eaters would not have given any information unless tortured or given potions. Torturing them would make us just as dark as they are, while using potions would allude to Severus being a spy as our Potions Master."

_Just when did Severus Snape become __**the**__ Potions Master in the Britain Isles?_

"We'll never get anything done Albus if we sit here with our thumbs up our arses." Alastor growled, getting a fairly fifty fifty approval from the audience…

"Now Moody, that isn't true. Dumbledore knows what he's doing and if he says that it was too risky a move to make, then we have to believe that." Molly said, admonishing the man who could quite possibly be at least forty years her senior.

"No, Alastor is right; we can't keep acting responsively to all of this. You-Know-Who may not be out in the open yet, but it's going to happen soon, and we **need** to make sure he can't do that easily." Kingsley said, making himself finally known from the door frame and scowling at Molly.

"I agree, we're the Aurors here and we have experience in knowing how this works, if we don't cripple You-Know-Who now, we won't be able to do it later." Tonks said, folding her arms across her chest and morphing into what Hestia had always assumed was her normal state. Long black hair, pale skin and blue eyes, the Black blood in her, she always changed to it when she was beyond playing "nice".

"Alas, I don't fear that Voldemort will come out soon, he was unable to procure the prophesy during the raid, and since its use as bait has become far too risky I had it destroyed. Perhaps with these events Voldemort will be too lost to decide what to do currently." Dumbledore continued to stay silent after finishing, waiting for someone to balk at the destruction of the object they had been guarding all year, the object Arthur nearly died guarding…

No one spoke …

"Now, has anyone been able to retrieve Mr. Potter? I heard that he fled the battle prematurely and couldn't be found afterwards."

Hestia couldn't help but feel indignant that he would insinuate that Harry was that cowardly…for Merlin's sake the boy dueled Voldemort at fourteen, give him some credit. Remus looked outraged, gripping the chair arms with white knuckles.

"Yes Albus…we found him. And many of you were there to witness it."

Hestia would have applauded Moody's sense of dramatics if it had been a less serious situation. Everyone else around the room looked confused, and Remus stared at her when he noticed she hadn't been fazed by the information.

"Where did Mr. Potter disappear off to during the skirmish?" Dumbledore inquired steepling his fingers, looking highly interested.

"That is unknown, I haven't been brave enough to ask him considering whatever he was up to is the cause of Rookwood's death. And frankly I don't care what happened, he killed Dolohov and for that I'll take a no questions approach."

Most everyone in the room gasped, Albus' eyebrows disappeared into his scalp and Molly looked nearly apoplectic.

"How dare you insinuate that Harry killed that monster! I heard that some Dark werewolf escaped it's cell in the Ministry and slaughtered him and a few other Death Eaters!" she screamed, pointing what Hestia could only assume was the "shame finger" at Moody.

"Yes Molly, that "Dark Werewolf" slaughtered Dolohov, as well as Rookwood, Crabbe, LeStrange and nearly Malfoy and Bellatrix! However, not more than a moment after the battle was over the wolf dropped to its knees and howled. I've never seen a werewolf look so defeated after clearly saving some of your arses!"

Everyone was taken aback by this outburst, even Hestia. What was making Moody get so involved in this?

"And what does this have to do with Harry!" Molly screeched, Arthur trying to calm her down…to no avail.

"Jones, get him from the cell…I think there are enough wands in this room to make sure it's fairly safe."

Hestia shakily nodded and got up, wondering just when someone would think that comment through…wands didn't seem to make any difference in the battle, Harry had somehow taken multiple killing curses during that skirmish without more than a tremor.

She looked back once, Alastor nodding to her and Dumbledore looking more surprised than she had ever witnessed him being.

Silence reigned in the dining room while everyone waited for Hestia to come back, most were whispering about what she needed to let Harry out of a "cell" and when she came back into the room several minutes later, she was followed by a large creature that people had trouble discerning in the low lighting.

Once Molly recognized what it was that stood in front of her, she screamed "How could you Moody! Letting it out while its still transformed! Stun it everyone!"

Molly was one of the first with her wand out but Arthur stilled her hand, the wolf stood there motionlessly, though hunched.

"Alastor, explain." Dumbledore said firmly, his eyes never leaving the werewolf.

"Well, I think that's a better job for Harry, don't you think so boy?" he said, a slightly disturbing grin on his face.

Nearly everyone who could take their eyes away from the wolf looked at him like he had grown a second head. But before anyone could say anything, the beast growled out the words "This was your master plan Moody? I would have expected something more subtle."

Hestia would have been more amused at the gasps had it been any other time, she was still however watching for wands, it wouldn't end well if someone actually tried to cast anything at Harry right now.

"You know well enough that there was no subtle way of doing this." Moody replied, slightly leaning back in his chair, oddly angling his peg-leg.

Molly was still looking hysterical, Hestia could imagine that the very thought of a transformed werewolf in the same building as your children might be…disconcerting.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice nearly breathless.

Hestia saw Harry look at her for a few moments, before saying "Harry Potter."

The Weasley matriarch looked confused for nearly a minute, before it dawned on her and the others in the room. Remus looked pained, possibly imagining what Harry might have gone through better than any other in the room and Tonks looked very undecided on just exactly how to feel. Most others looked fearful, even Snape, and Dumbledore had the same pained expression on his face that Remus had.

"Harry…what happened?" Dumbledore said, his voice carrying over the silence quite easily.

Hestia looked behind her towards the young man she had been talking to not even a few minutes ago, even in his transformed state he looked saddened that he had to share the experience.

"I was running from a few Death Eaters…Rookwood and one of the LeStrange brothers. I had hoped that it would allow the others some time and space to deal with the others. At the time it had just been Malfoy Sr., Crabbe Sr. Goyle Sr. and Rookwood and LeStrange that had shown themselves. Nothing like the number I came to later. After awhile I lost them, but by that time I was lost too and just kept running. I ran into a dead end and…I opened the door. Inside I was bitten and within moments I transformed…I had been locked in the room until an Unspeakable came to open it, and I think that's how Rookwood was able to follow me. I…killed them when they tried to capture me, everything was so surreal and my instincts were still overriding everything."

Harry looked to be less emotional about it than Hestia would have expected, did he not feel guilty? Could she even say that he should?

Molly looked near tears, and hesitantly came up to Harry and put her arms around him, before hugging him tightly. "Its ok Harry, we understand. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that…please forgive what I said, I didn't know."

Arthur came and put a hand on Harry's shoulder, eliciting a sigh from Harry and while Hestia would before have wondered if Werewolves could actually shed tears, she would not have to ever suspect that in Harry's case. Harry put his arms around Molly and Hestia smiled knowing that Molly Weasley may have met her match in hugging strength.

Remus was near tears and came for a hug himself, Tonks kissed him on the cheek and Moody slapped him on his back. Thankfully it looked like Harry wouldn't be forsaken by what Hestia could see had come to be like a family for him. Even after losing more family Harry could still be shown that he wasn't alone. It warmed her heart, because unfortunately because of who he was, and who he "might" be in the prophesy, it was clear the Harry Potter would need everyone he could get to rally behind him in the war against Lord Voldemort.

* * *

A/N

_**I apologize everyone for the rushed feel that the second half of the chapter has, I couldn't find a better way to do it and I knew the coming out party would be one of the more awkward scenes to write. The next chapter will be much easier on the eyes, and more information will be given.**_

_**For those of you who feel shafted by Harry's abysmal explanation of what happened…remember the thoughts of Warren…it didn't happen as cut and dry as Harry tried to explain, but he doesn't feel he can tell everything to just anyone…so there are many more secrets to be told. **_

_**Why Hestia? Because she gets so little air-time in the books that I decided to give her some.**_


	3. The Ministry Six

_**Chapter 3 is here everyone; however I have no beta, so my mistakes are my own still. I loved the reviews I got and I look forward to more. I apologize that this took a while to post, however I had some trouble with this chapter and getting the flow to work correctly.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, don't sue me please, I have nothing you want.**_

_**Harry Potter and the Magic Introvert, Chapter 3: The Ministry Six**_

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After the many heartfelt comments and hugs, Harry had been shooed away and left desensitized by everything. They needed to finish their meeting, so he attempted to find some place comfortable, soon finding that sitting like he used to would be terribly uncomfortable however laying on all fours seemed to be much easier. He wondered briefly where his friends were, but likely they were back at Hogwarts or even their homes…the term was coming to an end and it wouldn't be weird of them to leave early after what the Daily Prophet will surely call the "Battle of the Decade!"

Since no one else was really there to talk to, he hoped that he wouldn't have to stay at Grimmauld place. It was nothing but a reminder of what he had lost tonight, everywhere he looked were memories that he wished he could somehow bleach out of his head, and while the Portrait was not mocking his tainted blood, or possibly saying something about the death of her "mudblood sympathizing son" the house still held little hope for summers or holidays. Before when he could imagine living here with his Godfather instead of the Dursleys had been an amazing idea, to live the life he hadn't been able to have because of Voldemort; at least one part was true now, he wouldn't be living with the Dursleys anytime soon and he'd be lucky if he could leave this bloody house at all let alone go back to Hogwarts.

Perhaps he could live in the Forbidden Forest, there were creatures far deadlier than your average bow truckle; Harry was sure that he would be one of the higher ups on the food chain, even with Acromantulas roaming around. He could roam the forests at nights, even watching the Quidditch Pitch from afar could be alright… Could he really do that? Live in the forest like any of the other animals? Forsake civilization everywhere and just be the wolf? Would Warren have wanted that? No…he still had a mission from his father of sorts. There was no time-frame to go on though, when would he have the chance to do it, would they even let him in the door? Not likely with him looking like **this**.

Nearly asleep, Harry was jolted awake by the smell of…dog, looking up he saw Remus smiling sadly at him from the doorway. "We're done, and I wanted to see how you were doing." He said slowly, walking by him to sit on the stairwell.

"I'm sleepy." Harry grunted, covering his head with a hand.

"I would imagine, after everything that went on tonight…I'm proud of you Harry." He said quietly, scratching his neck nervously.

"What for? I would have expected the adults to be disappointed in me for killing anyone, Death Eater or no."

The older man nodded, "And some of them were, but not me. I could tell that the skirmish wasn't going well at all, there were more Death Eaters there and between protecting your friends and keeping everything non-lethal it was becoming a strained situation. I'm proud of you for doing what needed to be done, without going overboard. I know what it's like to have those instincts, and I could see how hurt you were when you saw Dolohov hit Hermione with that curse. I don't blame you at all for tearing into him and you stopped with Death Eaters, you refused to let your bloodlust consume you and for that I'm very proud of you."

Harry looked up to the last remaining link between him and his parents and struggled for words. "Thank you so much, I'm worried though what my friends will think."

Remus shook his head, "I don't think you have a whole lot to worry about there. Miss Lovegood seemed very worried about you, and I could tell that your transformation hadn't even phased her or effected the way she treated you, if anything it seems she was even more comfortable while we were there. Neville is a pure-blood, he recognizes just what Lycanthropy is and it won't bother him very much, the Longbottoms have never been a judgmental family when it comes to genetic issues."

Harry scowled, "I've noticed you've left out a few friends off that monologue."

The older Were grinned, "Subterfuge used to work so well on you too, your instincts must be getting stronger." He sighed briefly, "Hermione is very straight laced, for someone who follows what you do that is…I could see her taking this well, but I could also see her taking the very concerned and overbearing perspective, acting more like your mother than your friend. As for the two Weasley's they are pure-blood, but Molly is much less tolerant than most and I wouldn't be surprised if some of that has leaked down to her children. I was there when she greeted you earlier, but she was acting mostly on emotional stress then, I truly hope that she is just as accepting later."

Remus held up his hands, "Not to say that it is all set in stone, but I know full well that when a change like this happens, it forces you to find out who your real friends are and you are left to let the rest fall away. It's a sad burden, but a blessing in many ways."

Harry nodded, "I understand. Something has been bugging me for the last few hours, could you answer something for me? I know I was hit by a few Killing Curses tonight, why am I still alive?"

Lupin yawned before a soft smile covered his face, "Asking about spell theory Harry? Just where did the lazy student of mine go?"

Harry growled slightly, more out of amusement than any anger. "An answer this century Moony."

The older man sobered up with a grin, "Alright, but normally this would require you to know a bit of arithmancy to get by but I'll see if I can skip that." Remus got up and started pacing, almost unaware of what he was doing as Harry watched the gears turn in his head.

"The Killing Curse, _**Avada Kedavra**_ gets a lot of hype as some sinisterly evil spell that can kill anything it touches. It **is** defined as an unforgivable for its usable purpose to kill humans, however in the grand scope of things; this curse is actually rather narrow in its use beyond that point. The curse stops the heart, immediately in most cases and forces slight petrification to the person's features to allow for that "look of horror" to stay firmly placed on the victim. Now this would work with any human, and a good deal of humanoid creatures like Goblins, Elves, Veela and the like, however; the killing power of the curse relies heavily the size of the creature we're talking about. This is exactly why you cannot go up to a dragon or a say a basilisk and start throwing killing curses."

Harry frowned, "We've been taught that it was because of their magical resistance that made that possible."

Remus shook his head, "Propaganda to keep the curse so fear –inducing, while the magical resistance does in fact block other destructive curses, the killing curse is considered more of a physical effect and would normally pass through most enchantments or shields of that type. That is why it's 'unblockable' by magical shields. The curse flies harmlessly at larger creatures because it simply does not have the power, regardless of the caster to affect the more powerful hearts. It's a two-fold spell in that sense, it affects the heart physically, and it affects the muscles magically. If only the first part worked, it could in a sense petrify a beast that was large but since most have magical resistance, they can overlook that effect as well."

"So you think that's why I'm unharmed by it, my heart size? You can transform too and I thought Werewolves were still susceptible to the spell." Harry asked.

"I believe so, at least right now. And remember, you're not the average Werewolf, so the rules for them cannot be applied to you until we know more. Once I go through transformation, I'm still proportional to my original size; you however have grown quite a bit in mass. If I were to be hit by a killing curse while transformed, my heart would still be humanoid in size and I'd likely die while you clearly have a higher tolerance for heart stress."

"Wonderful, so I'll be a giant if I ever turn back?" Harry bit out.

"Maybe, but nothing is set in stone, and until more time is taken to figure out everything about what happened, we won't have answers." Remus shrugged, having finally stopped pacing.

"Are we staying here?" Harry asked quietly, unsure if he wanted the answer yet.

Remus looked down at the wolf near the stairs, frowning in thought. "Dumbledore said there was a moderate risk that…Sirius dying may in fact bring down the wards and open them up to the other Black family members, but Filius…Professor Flitwick was arguing that the Fidelius was independent of those wards and would act independently as well until the secret keeper died. Truthfully I'm unsure which side I believe, I know a good deal about charms and what he says is right in normal circumstances. But this is old family magic here, things could be different and I'd much rather we stay on the side of caution."

Harry nodded, "So we're packing up?"

"Yes, the Order members are gathering everything, just in case something happens. We'll know in a few days if the charm falls, but we don't want to have to rush out in panic if it falls before then. If we have to move we'll find some place we can bring you." He replied.

"The Burrow?" Harry wondered if he could catch the hopeful tone in his new voice.

"Maybe, but it is far less defensible and we need to explain this to your friends first. We could all be making a huge deal out of this, the transformation could not be as permanent as we think, and we need to run a few tests." Remus said wearily, pushing his hand through his graying hair.

"Who would run the tests?"

"I've heard Tonks talk about her mother, that she used to be a healer at St. Mungos that might work if I can get in contact with her."

"And she would be willing to work…with me? Like this?" Harry asked surprised, wasn't there a huge taboo on werewolves?

"Andromeda is very opposed to many blood purist beliefs that she grew up with, marrying Ted Tonks when he was a muggle only cemented this to her family, I'm sure she'll at the very least give it some thought." With another yawn, Remus pointed upstairs, "Find a room…or a hallway and get some sleep Harry, tomorrow we'll work on finding somewhere else to stay."

Harry nodded, quite sleepy still and slowly went up the stairs and soon found a place in front of a bedroom door to sleep. Thinking that for now, everything else could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry quietly contemplating the last several hours. Nothing had gone according to plan, Tom hadn't come to flaunt his power and seek the prophesy and now the orb was destroyed and he was perhaps one of the only people in existence to know the full contents. He had considered telling Harry tonight about his destiny, but his current form would dictate that there was too much risk in doing so; a furious underage wizard was manageable, if barely. But a transformed werewolf would hardly be safe to enrage with this kind of information…and that was where most of this current dilemma came from. Harry's "transformation" of sorts could easily disturb nearly every part of Albus' plans for the boy. This gave chance to the scenario where Harry could possibly kill Thomas, but with the Horcrux still possibly residing in the boy's scar there was little reason for that scenario to go forward. Somehow, the boy needed to die, and with that thought brought many horrible thoughts. Over the years Albus has had to push away the thoughts of just what he was doing to Harry Potter, he couldn't think about it very long or he would find himself at odds with his own plans. For years he had wondered how he could even consider sacrificing the poor lad, he couldn't handle more death on his hands…after his sister…and then Gellert, it was just too much for his mind to handle and the elderly man thanked Merlin nearly every day for penseives and the not so well known secret about how they handled memories.

It was true, that memories would still reside in the mind after being placed inside a penseive, however Albus had found a way many years ago to forcefully remove all but the blurriest and foggiest notions of a memory or situation from his mind and drop it into the penseive, never to be watched or remembered. He had done that with something to do with Peter's betrayal, and it scared him sometimes not knowing whether he had anything to do with the death of the Potters or not.

So much remained unknown even to him because of these choices, it was just far too painful to remember it all and still function with the drive he had. He knew it was affecting his mind, something just wasn't right these past few years, but he still had a mission and he refused to stop until Thomas was finally destroyed. He could not sit by and let that monster take over the culture he had tried so hard to preserve, not with so many lives on the line. His "Greater Good" excuse was just that, an excuse, even to himself. There was no good in what he was doing, saving lives at the expense of other lives was a nasty decision that he had forced himself to make, whether there was any benefit to it or not he would not know until the dust would clear.

And that was the dilemma, what dust would there be to clear? That of a society mourning a savior? Or a pseudo peace state until poor Harry Potter became possessed by the very soul fragment he had within him. If they thought Thomas was mad now, just considering how deranged he might be with a fraction of the soul mass he had now would be too disturbing to even think about. Furthermore, with this transformation this led to a possible scenario of some sort of beast-like Voldemort running rampant across Britain. With a long sigh and holding his head up only with pure willpower, Albus Dumbledore wondered for the umpteenth time whether or not he was doing anything right at all…and thinking that perhaps he could head to bed, that everything else could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

Hermione Granger lay in one of the many beds in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, attempting to ignore the dull pain that covered her chest. According to Madam Pomfrey the curse she had been hit with was unknown, and she wasn't sure of the effects it would have. It was clear that it was meant to harm, as it had seared a burn into her body diagonally down her chest, a scar that Madam Pomfrey had been able to reduce but not completely remove. Apparently she would have a thin purple scar down her chest for the rest of her life, it wasn't very long but it was enough of a reminder that she most likely should have died. _I should have died. _It was a chilling thought, and one that was making her very uneasy about where her life was going. She had followed the Light, the Order, and Harry since nearly her very entrance into the Wizarding World. She had refused to accept the role of a secondary citizen for being Muggleborn, she had refused to be looked down upon for her blood purity and while she could have chosen to quietly hold those beliefs or even leave to find more tolerant places she had instead wanted to 'change the world'. Hermione mentally scoffed at the idea now, that she could somehow change the world single handedly, to make bigots and ignorant traditionalists change their ways in her lifetime was a pipedream that she had held for far too long.

There would be no change, even if Voldemort was killed, people would live in fear and the Ministry would continue to be the corrupt trash of a government it had been for the past several decades since the Second World War As soon as Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, everyone had put their hands in the sand, refusing to create a situation in which another Dark Lord couldn't arise…creating the situation in which Tom Riddle could in fact rise, two times in as many decades.

Hermione had hoped that somehow her affiliation with Harry Potter would make things easier, make her crusades less difficult, however the Wizarding community was just as willing to put her friend on the cross as easily as they would praise him. It had been a double edged sword from the very beginning, she wouldn't have been singled out had it not been for her friendship with Harry, she could have sequestered herself in the library and learned what she needed instead of forever helping Harry overcome the difficulties thrown at him.

It wasn't as if she wasn't **really** his friend, she was. He was closer to her than in most cases anyone else, she spoke with many people in classes, or in the library but she truly wondered if anyone really knew her as well as Harry probably did. She hadn't ever needed to open up to him, or tell him everything about her life and yet he had seemed to pick up on all the nuances of her personality that sometimes even she had ignored. It was what made this all so difficult…after tonight; could she stay friends with him? She couldn't imagine being more than that anymore…it had seemed like such a wonderful idea and then things just kept getting harder, he would never notice how much she focused on him and while she understood with everything that was going on, shouldn't she be allowed to focus more on her own happiness?

Staying his friend could lead towards nothing but more challenges, Voldemort was coming back and sooner or later she would be singled out with him if she continued on this route, and she wasn't sure if she could handle that kind of pressure. She desperately wanted a normal year, friends, and Hogsmeade trips and…a boyfriend maybe, but none of those things ever seemed to be in reach when so much seemed to happen around Harry. It was always **something**. But could she abandon him now? She could feel it…she still fancied him, it was hard not to…but was it worth the trouble? She'd have to rethink everything she'd done so far, and this would mean so many changes in her life…Hermione sighed and cringed as she rolled to get more comfortable on the bed, these sorts of things would be better left for tomorrow…

* * *

Ronald Weasley lay in his own bed in the very same Hospital Wing, his mind reeling from the night he just had. Nothing would ever be the same, it could never be anywhere near the same as it had been before…the brains, those giant tentacle using creatures at the Ministry; they had done something to him. He couldn't tell just what yet, but he could feel the difference, things weren't so muddled in his mind, he hadn't even thought of food in the past several hours and nothing seemed to be in his mind more often than the scene he saw on his way out, being escorted by an Order member out of that glorified basement. The scene was of a transformed werewolf being held by none other than Loony…Luna Lovegood, he had been brought up to fear and perhaps even despise Werewolves because as his mother had always said "How could they get themselves into that situation!" but none of that came to him when he saw the powerful creature, after all, would his mother blame a child for a disease the parents had? The control was the same, if someone was bitten by another Werewolf it was not by choice…there would always be too much risk that the 'infector' would simply kill the willing participant.

However that didn't matter, it hadn't been the full moon or even anywhere near that phase and yet the wolf howling in what sounded like pure pain had clearly been anthropomorphic in nature, and not just some over-sized Animagus or partial transfiguration. It wasn't all that surprising that Luna would comfort a creature in pain, but she had seemed to know who it was somehow, and that seemed highly improbable considering as far as he had known before hand Luna only knew the five of them that she had accompanied. Was it possible someone she knew worked at the Ministry and…had that happen to them? Possible, but something still itched at the back of his mind, Harry's absence. He noticed it as he was being escorted, but everyone sans Luna and Harry were being brought out of the building, and he hadn't seen Harry since some point during the battle. Did something happen to him? It was frustrating having so little information, he couldn't make all the connections yet, he couldn't see the whole picture. Hermione might know more but she was in no mood to speak, nearly an emotional wreck or some sort of pale shadow of her personality whenever he attempted to talk to her. She had looked so detached, distant and it scared him a little, normally Hermione would be the one who put everything together but somehow she just wasn't up to it. And even worse was that he couldn't speak to Neville or Ginny about it either because neither of them had sustained any injuries worth keeping them over night, thank Merlin. If something had happened to Ginny…well, he would have been hurt, but somehow he couldn't see himself angry.

It wasn't Harry who had forced them to come, if anyone had it would be Hermione badgering them and herding them towards wherever the bloody hell Harry planned on going. They had chosen to go willingly, including Ginny and while Ron could admit he would have rather she stayed behind, he had little say in what his sister did. Harry had tried to keep everyone away, knowing it would be dangerous, but the naïve children that they were instead followed along for the ride. Perhaps Harry is only alive because of their assistance, or maybe even the other way around, he couldn't be sure. Though from what he had gathered from the Order members, the wolf was the **only** reason they had even escaped, saving the day apparently.

It was rather interesting that a transformed Werewolf would attack only a specific type of person, namely the Death Eaters. Surely it would have slaughtered nearly everyone in there, especially if he was to believe that it could survive a Killing Curse. However from what he gathered the wolf went straight for someone named Dolohov after the Death Eater in question cursed Hermione…that in itself was rather odd, because the adults spoke as if this event triggered something in the wolf, why would Hermione being attacked trigger such a response? If anything the wolf inside should have instinctually gone for the child, the cursed one who was weaker, not the attacker. Wolves in a transformed state had no sense of justice, or mercy, but this one had a protective nature towards the Order members and the teens that had stayed in the battle.

It was a very curious situation indeed, one he would need to consider further some other time. Ron Weasley rolled onto his side, and became comfortable while his mind buzzed with activity thinking that perhaps everything else should be left for tomorrow.

* * *

Neville Longbottom sat quietly on the couch inside the Gryffindor Common Room, sighing softly and trying his hardest to relax from the night he'd had. Neville would be the first to admit how surprised he had been at how together and confident he had been during the battle, it was a side of himself he hadn't ever seen before and he doubted anyone else had seen it either. The events were blurry, and somehow it all just became muddled together in a long string of memories of stunners and dodging. He didn't have the time when everything was happening to pay too much attention to his surroundings beyond attempting not to be cursed. It was a relief when the Order members came, but a slight disappointment soon after when they were nearly out-dueled, only the odd Werewolf seemed to bring the battle back in their favor. Neville had been studying moon phases in the last few months due to the effects the lunar cycle had on most Wizarding plants, but nothing had ever been mentioned about normal lunar cycle abilities being able to be manipulated into taking place during other times. That's pretty much the only conclusion that he could come to, that somehow the Ministry had found a way to manipulate the genes in a Werewolf to create the effect of the full moon without the actual event occurring. If that was true, it would be a very beneficial discovery in many ways, but he couldn't say that it was a very heartwarming way to test it.

Nevertheless, whether it was a Ministry worker or some sort of experiment he was supremely relieved when the wolf saved their arses during the battle. Nothing seemed to stop it, even when Malfoy Sr. threw a Killing Curse, it meant that somehow the Werewolf had enlarged or strengthened his heart if he were to believe Professor Vector when he asked about the inner workings of the Unforgivables.

"Neville?" a quiet voice sounded from his left, taking him away from his pondering. Ginny Weasley had been lying silently on the couch, her head nearly touching his thigh as they were soon getting too tall to stretch on the couches. Like himself, she hadn't been hurt too badly during the battle but she still looked quite shaken and Neville had nearly forgotten her presence.

"Yeah Ginny?" his own voice seemed hoarse, from all of the shouting he had done while casting stunners…he hadn't expected to be so tired.

"What time is it?" she asked meekly, sleep still clouding her eyes, making Neville think she may have been dozing off.

A quick tempus showed it to be nearly two in the morning, far later than he expected.

"Nearly two, we might need to head up to bed." He found himself saying.

"I don't know, I keep feeling like if I go to sleep now I'll have to wake up and find that this wasn't some nightmare…that Hermione really was nearly killed…and that Harry…"

Neville quickly looked down to see a very vulnerable redhead in tears, clutching at his leg. "We didn't even get to see him as we left! They wouldn't even tell us if he was alive…"

Neville nodded, it was something he hadn't wanted to think about. It wasn't good to assume things, his Gran had taught him that…but he couldn't shake the feeling that it did not at all bode well that Harry hadn't shown up after he was chased down by those two Death Eaters. If anyone could have made it out alive, Harry would have…but still it was a wonder none of them had been killed and if Harry hadn't had protection…he shook his head, now was not the time for this.

"I know Ginny, but we can't think about that right now, he's probably fine and licking his wounds like the rest of us. He might be in the Hospital Wing with Ron and Hermione, who knows? I'm sure they'll tell us as soon as there is news to tell." The confidence in his voice was a Godsend, because he wasn't at all sure he could have pulled it off otherwise.

"Right, thanks Neville, should we head up?" she asked, looking like she believed him.

"Yeah, probably for the best, everything else can wait till tomorrow."

And with that the two Gryffindors went up to their beds, wondering just how the night would affect everything else.

* * *

Luna Lovegood, the last of the soon to be dubbed "Ministry Six" lay quietly in her dorm room in Ravenclaw Tower. Not asleep, not even really thinking, just lying there and winding down from the battle. She hadn't been allowed to stay with Harry at the unplottable location Moody had portkeyed them to, rather she had been shooed off within minutes back to the Infirmary at Hogwarts to be checked up and to make sure her leg could be fixed. It was a hollow excuse, if Madam Pomfrey found a bone that she **couldn't **fix Luna might just fall over in shock. She was worried about her friend, he was not at all in a good state when she was forced to leave him, and she needed to make sure he didn't withdraw into himself like she…like she normally did. Harry was nearly the only person lately to see her when she wasn't withdrawn, and she wasn't sure what to make of that. She'd never dated anyone, simply because either whatever was said about her or she simply wasn't interested…but Harry was different, he opened up possibilities and started feelings in her that she couldn't quite place.

It was confusing, that despite…no…even with the dangers she knew hung around him that she was still nearly incapable of staying away. She wanted to know him, to help him, because no one had ever helped her and she couldn't see another person go through that. It was a mission of sorts, a mission to be his friend, at all costs. Sooner or later she supposed she might have had to take a stand in the "War" with Voldemort, and seeing as her Father would never cow down to the Ministry, it was most likely going to be Harry's side anyway. She could never see her Father or herself joining Voldemort for any reason, they had nothing to lose and nothing besides each other that could be taken away.

It was these thoughts that had led to her lying silently on her bed, ignoring the light snores of her dorm mates and quietly zoning out. She was accustomed and experienced to zoning out frequently and it amused her sometimes to see the aftereffects when she would do so during a conversation. It made her smile thinking about her previous conversation with Cho Chang, the older classmate had stayed up late to interrogate the younger Ravenclaw about the rumor mill's theories on what the six of them had been up to tonight. Luna couldn't quite remember what she had said, something about visiting Minister Fudges army of Heliopaths and she zoned out. A giggled escaped her, successfully lightening her mood. With a final thought towards Harry and his transformation, hoping that he wouldn't be forever imprisoned by bigots and…giggle…Fudge's Heliopath army. She would have to find him soon, and make sure he was ok, no one needed to be forced to grieve alone. Not ever again…until then things could be best left until tomorrow.

_**A/N Well then! I'll be honest; this chapter wasn't at ALL going this direction when I first started. Yes, I realize that this chapter still heavily leans towards H/L, but I'll still be stubborn for a bit and see where this goes because trust me, the three girls from the Ministry Six are not at all going to be Harry's only female friends. Maybe I'll even put a poll up to see what the readers think. Tell me what you all thought of the chapter! I'd be glad to have some more input!**_


	4. Early Bird gets the Worm

_**Yes, I know this is a late update; however I had some serious Desktop issues that have forced me to use the laptop that is currently on my desk, replacing everything. I had to redo most of the chapter, and to be honest it went in a completely different direction that I'm happy with.**_

_**Thank you everyone for the reviews, and for those of you who didn't like the inner monologue feel of the last chapter, there is dialogue in this one for you to munch on.**_

_**Thank you to Ink, my favorite fan and the person who brought me back into my writing mood. **_

_**Disclaimer!: I do not own Harry Potter, so please don't sue me.**_

_**Harry Potter and the Magic Introvert Chapter 4: Early Bird gets the Worm**_

* * *

It was the sort of hour during the morning when the stars could still be seen shining and the moon visibly falling towards the horizon while an opposing violet and orange color assaulted the sky. It was at this sort of hour that Privet Drive had several black robed figures standing around, waiting for some unknown signal. Minutes passed by and the figures simply stood in silence, not even speaking or looking towards another in the cold chilly weather. After nearly half an hour another figure popped into existence near the others, immediately speaking to the group.

"Speak Goyle, your message specified that the wards have been altered." The voice was venomous, and nearly completely devoid of anything other than hissing. The reptilian looking figure was none other than Lord Voldemort, looking contrite as a gust of wind hit his face.

"My Lord, the others and I have witnessed the wards break down, or alter drastically at Number Four, my estimates is that this happened sometime during the trap at the Ministry."

The other members of the group shuffled nervously at the mention of that incident, only two of the six had been present, both of them cursing Gregory for bringing up their failure.

"Interesting, well done Gregory. I require a…volunteer to attempt to enter the house uninvited." Voldemort smiled viciously, watching the group further act like small children in his presence.

The six robed figures looked to each other, an argument seemingly on the verge of occurring before a single member walked forward. "I will do it my Lord." He said in a rough voice, glancing towards Gregory with a stiff smile.

"Your loyalty and obedience will be rewarded if you live Vincent. The Crabbe family seems to redeem itself with every day."

All five of the remaining Death Eaters subtly sighed in relief, watching as Vincent walked confidently towards the home, his stride quickening as he came to the lawn. Not even bothering to knock on the door Vincent raised his wand and a bright yellow spell shattered the door admitting Crabbe Sr. into the home. The others waited, watching for nearly anything to happen and when nothing but murmured shouts could be heard inside Voldemort himself strode towards the home, a frightening smirk on what could only be called his face.

The house was already being ruined beyond ordinary repair, Vincent grinning as he destroyed a pathetic muggle home and high off of the knowledge that he would be rewarded for his act of…obedience. He took pleasure in destroying the home that was clearly meant to show how "normal" the family was…how conformed they were to the idiotic muggle fashions of the decade and Vincent nearly cackled with glee as he made sure nothing in the house could ever be called normal again.

He was found by his Lord while destroying the kitchen; an unspoken question was being answered as Vincent pointed with his wand above him, towards the second floor. Voldemort idly registered that this was eerily familiar to the destruction of the last house Potter resided in. Shoving such thoughts aside, he made his way up the stairs with disgust at the white paint haphazardly thrown everywhere. It looked as if some child had painted it.

He found his prey cowering in the master bedroom; huddled together presumably hoping whoever was there would leave them unharmed. "The brat isn't even here yet! He's still at school!" the man said from in front of his family, not even bothering to successfully hide them…though with his mass he certainly could.

"You think I do not know that Muggle? I am not looking for Potter just yet; I can wait for that pleasure. However, killing his family will be a blow I am quite happy to deliver." The Dark Lord paused for a moment, looking around the room with distaste. "I have to say, I have been waiting years to be able to breach the wards here, a shame that it wasn't during the summer, though the Order would no doubt be placed here then. Curious, isn't it? That Dumbledore hasn't even been protecting you during the school season?"

Voldemort scowled as his concentration was taken away from his objective, he was here to kill the Muggles and leave, nothing more.

He raised his wand, the very beginning of the Killing Curse on his mind, when the long-necked female shrieked "Spare us! Wait a few weeks, we'll give you the boy!"

The green glow his wand had attained drained quickly, _what did they just say?_

"Repeat yourself immediately."

"I s-said to s-spare us! Give us a few weeks! W-we'll give you the boy!"

He couldn't be hearing them right, were they really willing to hand over Potter for their lives? This certainly wasn't the way the last home had gone. The Potters had put up such a good fight…he was almost in need of assistance during that debacle of a transfiguration arena Potter had turned his living room into… _Where has my concentration been going? _

A quick nonverbal Legillimens and Voldemort found himself inside the mind of Vernon Dursley. What he found was enough for him to eject himself soundly and quickly from what even he could consider an evil pig of a man.

"To clarify, you are willing to give me Harry James Potter, in return for your lives?" He needed to be sure; the answer to this question could change everything.

He had barely finished the sentence before a resounding "Yes!" had come from their mouths. Just who were these Muggles and why would Dumbledore give them the boy if they wanted nothing to do with him?

It was an interesting proposition, but the Order would be guarding Harry by the time Dumbledore let him free from his tower. This family had no more say in what could be done with Potter than the boy himself had.

With his decision made, he raised his wand again, concentrating on his hate for Muggle filth such as this. Filth that would knowingly give up a child of their own, for their "safety"…the kind of hatred he could only attain when faced with Muggles who reminded him of his filthy cowardly abandoning mother… He hadn't realized the curse had left his lips and Vernon Dursley lay dead over his family, two quick curses later and the rest of the evil spawn were dead as well. It was good riddance, even the thorn in his side called Harry Potter did not deserve to be caged with these beasts.

He briskly walked downstairs to find Crabbe Sr. still cursing the home into ashes, he signaled the man to follow him out and said to the others waiting outside "Burn the house to the ground; nothing should be left standing, absolutely nothing."

Before he apparated out, Voldemort considered what he had seen in the mind of that overweight swine. It seemed that Potter had a similar childhood to his own, though more frightening in its own respect. While he had the luxury of peers at a young age to manipulate and control, young Harry Potter was forced under the constant rule of people several times he size and age. Dumbledore would have to be put through another few torture sessions for allowing yet another child to go through abuse without interfering.

The final thought that ran through his mind was, _perhaps I could find something other than an enemy in young Harry Potter…_

* * *

Meanwhile Harry Potter was still experiencing an agonizing nightmare in which nearly everyone he held dear died at the hands of the Death Eaters. He saw Hermione die first, blaming him and his 'saving people thing' and she hadn't even hit the floor before Ron was cursed. Next came Neville, Ginny and Luna, each in some way blaming him or furious with him for making his horrible choice to bring them to the Ministry.

Finally his Godfather would appear, furious at his incompetence; calling him useless and a freak like only his Uncle had previously. Hearing it so often and now from the only man he could say he loved…broke a part of Harry James Potter irreparably. Whether or not this was real would be of no matter, the words would echo in his heart and Harry would never be the same.

Still tossing and turning in his sleep, Harry was awoken by a hand on his shoulder. Large amounts of willpower were the only thing that kept the hand from being ripped from the unknown limb in his half-sleeping daze.

With a muttered growl Harry asked "What?"

"Not so much a morning person I take it?" the familiar voice said amusedly, getting the wolf's attention.

"No, I'm not. I never did like waking up to fix the Dursleys breakfast at damn near dawn." He replied testily, forgetting just what he was disclosing."

"And why would they make you fix them breakfast at dawn?"

A flash of the word "freak" entered his mind, and Harry struggled to ignore it. He saw two ways this could go, he could 'confess' a small piece of his abuse and garner pity and needless anger, or spin a tale and save everyone some stress. Door number two it was.

"Chores." He mumbled while stretching his legs and yawning in a way that made his jaw feel unhinged

Remus chose to look as convinced as he could muster, but remained completely skeptical. "Hmm, well we're done packing and we'll be taking the floo to another safe house. We'll get you some breakfast when we get there."

Harry nodded and followed his uncle of sorts to the fireplace, reminding himself that this might just be the last time he ever set foot in his Godfather's childhood home. He tried to come up with any reason other than that to remember it, but found none. Grimmauld Place would not be missed.

Remus picked out a handful of neon green powder from a small pot on the mantle and threw it into the fire, only to look surprised when the flames continued to stay red and orange.

"Odd…" Remus mused, trying twice more to successfully connect the floo up. He scowled when both failed and soon soft popping noises could be heard in the other rooms. Harry briefly wondered if Remus could hear them too, but the panicked look on his face told him everything.

Remus grabbed onto the wolf, a look of concentration marring his face for a moment, before he huffed. "Damn! Wards are up!" he cursed and tore out a rather rusty looking medal from his coat pocket, "Grab it!" he yelled, voices coming from upstairs and the rumble of rushed steps signaling the arrival of some very unwanted guests.

Harry reached out and touched the medal, disappearing with Remus Lupin before the invaders even made it to the bottom of the stairs.

* * *

Five robed figures including Voldemort himself came down the stairs. Bellatrix, Rabastian and even Peter followed Lucius and Voldemort down. Bellatrix took a leisurely pace with her hand over the stairwell, inspecting her childhood home, her eyes reflecting a faint sense of nostalgia…and pain. The home was in such disrepair, looking nearly nothing like the manor she had played with her sisters in. Sirius had let it become this disgusting pit that shamed the very memory of the Black Family.

Kreacher popped into existence at the bottom of the stairs as Bellatrix made it there, bowing as far as his elderly body could go. "Mistress Bella, I's so sorry for the state the Manor be's in. Please forgive Kreacher, please!" the elf cried, slapping himself in the head repeatedly.

Bellatrix leaned down towards the elf she remembered fondly, frowning at how insanity had taken its toll on his mind. "Kreacher, I order you to no longer punish yourself. You've done nothing wrong." Her voice was soft and soothing, Rabastian sneered to himself at the sound of it wondering why his Lord hadn't renewed some sort of curse on his former sister in law to keep in from acting below her station.

"Now Kreacher, what has been going on here?" she asked, noticing that even her Lord was interested in hearing the answer as he stood staring at the elf.

Kreacher nodded to himself, gathering as much detail as he could. "Many things, Mistress Bella, many things indeed. The former Master Black died tonight, I can sense it. The people that have's been defiling our home stole everything they could! The Black Library is in shambles Mistress!"

The elderly elf was already becoming upset and Bellatrix was quick to comfort him with her voice and patting his head. Rabastian had enough of it by then and took out his wand to point it towards the filthy creature. "Get to the point! I will not hesitate to kill you!"

Kreacher scowled at the other man for a moment, folding his arms against his tiny chest. "Kreacher does not answer to Strange men anymore."

Rabastian growled but his wand was taken from him with a quick disarming spell by Peter, who nodded quickly towards their Lord who stood irritated by what had happened.

"Thank you Peter, Rabastian! Calm yourself and let Bella gather the information we need, it is useless to threaten Elves, and you know this."

The only remaining LeStrange male looked cowed and backed away without asking for his wand back. Bellatrix softly asked "Where did they all go Kreacher?"

"They knew the wards woulds come down, they left just before you came Mistress! I swears I couldn't stop them!"

Bellatrix nodded and ordered Kreacher to go rest before starting his repair on the home and stood up to look at her Lord. "It would seem that we were mere seconds away from capturing them my Lord."

Voldemort was anything but pleased, failure was something he could no longer tolerate and while the Black Home would suffice for a resource for now, it was not what he was looking for.

"Crucio!" Voldemort growled, cursing one of the robed figures into unfathomable pain for several moments. "I will not trust your judgment again in these matters Lucius. It seems Harry was not in the bedrooms, giving them plenty of time to escape. You make another mistake like this and I will throw you in Azkaban myself and let the Dementors have their way with you!"

The still writhing blonde man nodded, keeping his screams to himself while the other three looked on with no sense of pity. Malfoy Sr. had no friends among the Death Eaters, allies perhaps…but never friends.

* * *

Haven, as Albus fondly called his ancestral home and the new safe house was now inhabited by many of the Order. With Thomas still out there and the Ministry none the wiser it was conceivable that many assassinations would take place. Cornelius would continue to keep his head in the sand and with it the entire Wizarding community of Britain. Thomas would be free to lurk in the shadows without repercussions until the Order was in working form and able to complete missions. Dumbledore Manor would suffice, having plenty of room for the meager number of members they still had and training facilities for some of the less experienced. Soon he would have to consider conscripting some of the Hogwarts students, while starting simply with eager to serve 7th years.

Packing had been a massive endeavor, most of the library tomes back at Grimmauld had been charmed against being tampered with, forcing them to be hauled physically from one location to another. It had taken hours of everyone's time to get what they had out; knowing they most likely had only the night to complete the task. Some of the more dangerous materials were now in safe keeping, though only Sirius would have known what they had missed.

The death of one of his members was still haunting, though necessary perhaps in the long run it seemed, that such pain was needed to mold a hero was heartbreaking without his regular use of the penseive. It had taken him several shots of firewhiskey and a few vials of memories to rid himself of his guilt, and he pondered just how much of his mental essence he could keep quarantining before he would become insane.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Molly Weasley entering the room and quickly casting several privacy charms.

"Albus, when can we expect Remus…and Harry?" she asked, toying with her apron and smelling suspiciously like biscuits.

"Very soon, Remus was sent to wake the boy and bring him back. It shouldn't be more than a few minutes." He replied, attempting to finish the conversation as quickly as possible.

Molly continued to stand, looking terribly nervous and Albus mentally sighed, figuring what she was here to talk about.

"And the contract?" she meekly asked, continuing to look towards the floor instead his eyes.

"Molly, I'm unsure whether it is a wise move to contract Harry with Ms. Weasley, you've seen his new…affliction and not only will this strain their relationship from the outside but legally it could have many repercussions."

This had been a rather strained topic between the two of them, Albus could see why the Weasley matriarch would use the Potter gold to her advantage, knowing at least partially what Albus had planned for the boy. But with what little morality he felt he could still claim with dignity he was rather disgusted with this tactic, but if he lost the contribution of the Weasleys to the Order he would be very hard pressed to find more light-sided individuals to support him.

Every now and then he could convince himself that perhaps young Ms. Weasley and Harry could perhaps grow feelings towards each other and the contract would never have to be heard of, but with the recent events it was likely that Molly would want more…guaranteed options.

"But Albus, you've seen the two of them, you know how easily they could fall in love. They look just like James and Lily after all. Ginny will follow him regardless of his ghastly disease and I'm sure with the right motivation Harry could look past his predicament and see the light." She said sweetly, apparently believing what she was saying.

_I feel for you Molly, whatever your Mother told you about love left a good deal to be desired…_

"I will look into it, and inspect the legal ramifications of Harry's transformation when I next visit the Ministry." He answered wearily.

"That's all I can ask for Albus, we both know this is for the greater good."

And that was what Albus feared the most, that he was indeed using the "greater good" as an excuse as much so as Molly Weasley was for her own benefit. He knew it was a rather weak excuse already however it was for the entire community and not his own benefit, he would hate to find himself one day secretly finishing it as 'for the greater good…of Albus Dumbledore'.

A pop and a loud thud alerted Albus to the arrival of Remus Lupin, the aging young man looked panicked and his eyes were wide and searching around; this couldn't be good.

"Remus, what happened?"

Lupin looked at him, waving frantically around himself. "We heard apparition inside, they must have found a way past the wards…or the wards failed, I'm not sure. But I swear Harry touched the portkey! He was right there with me!"

Albus could feel the blood draining from his face; he forced himself to ask the question that he already knew the answer to.

"Remus, where is Harry?"

Molly was by now nearly hysterical in tears, though rather coldly Albus wondered just why she all the sudden cared about the boy.

"I-I think he's still at Grimmauld.

It was probably too late to stage a rescue; Thomas would have combed the house with many of his followers and probably found Harry already. Perhaps the boy could act as a Dark Creature and stay alive for a while, and Albus hoped that he wouldn't do something rash and start murdering them all only to die to Thomas himself. The Prophesy was far too integral to his plan to fall apart now. With what he thought to be far too many things on his mind already, Albus wondered whether anything else could go wrong within twenty four hours.

* * *

Confused and disoriented, a young man felt himself being swirled around in a dark tunnel and being thrown in what felt like all directions. It was the most nauseating experience he could fathom and it hadn't stopped for nearly a minute. Nearly vomiting, he felt himself being thrown down to the ground with great force. He felt several cracks throughout his body and rolled down what he could have sworn was asphalt pavement. Pain shot through his system and he was sure he might pass out at any moment. The smell of blood was as clear as petrol could ever be. His hearing was filled with nothing but this horrible, horrible ringing and vibrating sensation and he felt like his body was made of lead.

A groan escaped him and he whimpered a little in pain. He heard this roaring noise come closer and winced as the sound of doors slamming shut on an vehicle came to his ears. He tried to get up but screamed in pain when a searing sensation could be felt along his forearms. Quick footsteps were heard and the sounds of multiple voices came swiftly afterwards. "Amy! Call 999! This boy's been hit!"

The male voice that had just yelled further back came closer and another groan escaped the boy's lips. "Don't try to talk, help is on the way…just don't go to sleep, whatever you do, do not go to sleep."

That seemed like a horrible suggestion right now to the young man, sleep sounded like such a good option. He heard a lighter, more feminine voice not far away. "Daddy, is he going to be alright?"

"I don't know, is your mother on the phone still?" his voice seemed strained, the boy was attempting to concentrate on it with all the concentration he could muster.

"Yeah, should we really wait for the ambulance, could we move him ourselves?"

A whimper was all the young man could manage to dictate that this idea was** not** welcome.

"No, I'm not sure what hit him but whatever it was did everything except kill him."

He could hear the younger of the two sobbing, the smell of soap and vanilla permeating the wretched assault of blood in his senses. He would survive…he hoped, but where was he?

Another voice joined, was this a family? "Dan, they're on their way. Could I speak to you for a moment?"

Even with his completely shot mental capacity the young man on the road could sense the desperate tone of the woman's voice; they only took a few steps away and spoke in hushed tones; however what concerned the young man was that he could still hear them clearly.

"Daniel, he won't make it. Its going to be another few minutes at least until the emergency team gets here and look at the blood! What are we going to do?" her voice was pleading, and the young man could even hear what sounded like soft sobs, though he was sometimes mixing them up with the sobbing of the younger woman that was still kneeling near him.

"We make him as comfortable as he can get… We won't leave him alone." The man said confidently, warming the heart of the young man, comforting him in a way that he wasn't sure he had ever experienced before. The couple walked back towards the kneeling young woman, the young man gasping for air as breathing became harder. Blinking rapidly his vision was still swimming, though he would get glimpses of clarity to see the family that might very well be the last people he saw.

The man who crouched by his head was barely in his forties by the look of it, completely brown hair neatly cut near his head. His face determined and his eyes watery. The woman next to him was quite attractive for what he assumed to be her age, long dark hair in waves and water blue eyes. The young woman kneeling near him was the perfect mix of the two, attractive like her mother with long brown hair and the same aqua blue eyes as her mother.

He tried his best to concentrate on the details, dedicating them to memory, perhaps it would keep him awake while the ambulance rushed to wherever they were. Were these going to be his last moments alive? If so he was happy to have people around him, he had this very unsettling feeling that he had been alone for so long up until then.

"Shhh, everything will be okay, your safe and we're here." The young woman said, her voice light and melodic to his apparently refined ears. He coughed up something that he suspected might be blood and heard the family gasp, he was losing control of his body and found himself convulsing wildly for a few seconds before it stopped and he lay still. Still awake, listening to the now hysterical crying of the two women as the father tried his hardest to comfort both the girls and the young man who lay dying in front of him.

Pain was fading, or he was becoming numb, his mind was losing the ability to tell the difference anymore. The damnable ringing had left his ears, leaving him nearly dosing. He felt his breathing becoming shallower, and decided that it was now or never that he would ever be able to say anything. He thought long and hard about what he wanted to say to the family that was staying by him in what might be his last moments alive. He settled on the words he wanted to use, mentally preparing and breathing in a very painful breath he gasped "Thank you" before his eyes fluttered shut and he lost himself to unconsciousness.

* * *

_**A/N The end of another chapter, this one was rather somber and angsty during the end, but fear not! Things will get better next chapter, if only a little. This chapter was meant to transition you into the new direction that this story is taking. Hold on to your seatbelts people!**_

_**Till Next time!**_


	5. Some things are better left Forgotten

_**I apologize for the delay in posting this. My desktop is unusable currently and I had to use my laptop to create this chapter from scratch. And to be honest this was a rather difficult chapter anyway. **_

_**You will get a look into several POV's as per usual with my chapters. But I will ask this for you guys, do you wish to have the format of the story stay that way or would you rather a more Harry-Centric format with only sprinkles of other POVs?**_

_**To all my reviewers, thank you so much as your support has kept me writing this story and coming up with all the ideas that I've thus-far had. **_

_**I do not own Harry Potter, and I do not wish to. This is written purely for the pleasure of others without any cost.**_

_**Harry Potter and the Magic Introvert Chapter 5: Some things are better left Forgotten**_

* * *

Ronald Weasley grunted slightly trying to force his luggage onto the Hogwarts Express, finding it hard to do much of anything after nearly two weeks in a bloody hospital bed. They had finally decided to just let him go home for the summer and keep him under a tight leash as it were to make sure nothing 'permanent' remained after his bout of fisticuffs with tentacle wielding brains. It was a rather silly premise since Ron had already noticed something that he was hoping might be permanent. Something about the giant brains and how they had latched onto him somehow made him smarter.

Not just a little smarter either, he had a feeling that he could now leave Hermione in the dust, with half the effort. He could only assume that whatever the Ministry had those damnable creatures for was to inhibit brain growth in humans, or maybe that's just what they were building up to, he might never know.

He found himself in the same situation as first year, so long ago when he had searched each compartment for somewhere to sit and noticed the disapproving looks or sneers he would get from other students. So again, like all those years ago he searched near the back of the train for somewhere he might actually be welcomed by, or at least without so many questions as to what exactly happened at the Ministry. Ron found Hermione settled into one of the back compartments alone, but sighed to himself before continuing his search. The trio had already collapsed in less then a month it seemed without Harry back, Hermione kept acting distant and spent as little time as possible with what was left of the Ministry Six. He would never mention it to the young woman, but he was finding himself having more fun with the others without her incessant nagging and mothering.

If he wanted an intelligent conversation he could always turn to Luna in most subjects and Neville seemed to be a closet savant in both Herbology and Charms, while Ginny would sate his need for Quidditch talk. He missed Harry though; it was the sort of brotherly friendship that just wasn't present yet between himself and Neville. No news had been given at all about Harry's disappearance and most people who paid any attention to gossip either thought he had been kidnapped or killed at the Ministry and the Headmaster simply didn't want anyone to know.

_Finally, I swear she can disappear without anyone noticing._ He thought, finding Luna in a compartment waiting for them while humming to herself reading the newest Quibbler. That same comforting smile on her lips as her head bobbed side to side in a tune neither probably could place.

He opened the compartment and shoved his trunk into the space allotted without her so much as blinking, he would never understand how she could both zone out and be completely attentive to everything at the same time, it was still unnerving to him now that he had noticed.

"You can't just stare at me and figure out my secrets Ronald, I'm not like everyone else." She said lightly, smirking behind her magazine.

"Oh I believe I'm learning. Can't fault a bloke for trying though." He chuckled, finding a place to sit opposite of the younger blonde.

"You know, some girls would find it rude of you to stare unblinkingly at their faces trying to discern the secrets of their personalities. You should really be more discreet about it." her laugh was airy and very contagious.

"Well I'm still new to this whole 'being smart' thing, so cut me some slack." He grinned, it had only taken him a few days to weigh out the pros and cons and at least for the Ministry Six, he would be honest about the change he was going through.

"Ronald, it's not really that you weren't smart to begin with. It was more that you were stubborn." While he wished he could, he really couldn't deny that.

"And lazy." _Wait…_

"Oh, and jealous." By now Ron was scowling.

"And insecure, can't forget that." His foot was now tapping as he waited impatiently for her to stop.

"And probably the most heinous of all your social crimes were your table manners." She continued, ticking them off on her fingers as she went.

"You can stop anytime Luna." He said, smiling slightly nevertheless.

"But I'm not done yet! I haven't even gotten to your fashion sense!"

"Oh, I think you're done." He said, reaching over to snatch her Quibbler.

"I'll hold it hostage, don't think I won't." he said teasingly, until she pouted in the most innocent and evil way he could ever fathom.

"Bollocks, shame on you for using the big guns so early." He mumbled, giving back her Quibbler while she grinned and crossed her legs happily.

"Everyone knows you use your big guns first, to lessen the death count of the entire war."

And with that happy note Ron noticed Neville and Ginny find the compartment and let themselves in, curiously Neville seemed to be nearly attached to the hip to his young sister.

"Something I should be informed of Nev?" Ron asked with a soft smile on his lips. Neville blushed profusely and didn't answer while Ginny seemed to be confused about what they were talking about.

Ginny scowled, "I don't know how any of you can be so blasé about everything when Harry is still missing."

Ron felt the atmosphere become somber, something he had hoped to avoid for the next few hours of the ride. Luna seemed to be either ignorant of the change or more likely unaffected. She shrugged and cut through the silence quickly.

"Harry is still safe, if a Killing Curse could not do him in, I find it hard to believe much else could." She said softly, and while Ron was catching on to what she had been hinting at the last few weeks, he could tell that his sister and Nev were assuming that she was referring to Harry's infant defeat of Voldemort.

"Still, it's unlike him to be missing for so long." Neville said.

"A fifteen year old boy turned the tables on an ambush meant for him by trained killers, he could simply be in hiding for now." Luna continued wit her eyes slightly unfocused, a skill that Ron had yet to learn himself.

"Shouldn't we all be in hiding then? We were all there and probably in the way as much as Harry was that night." Ginny asked, looking towards her brother.

Ron shrugged, "We should be more careful certainly but until there is proof that the Death Eaters consider us any sort of threat I don't think we should find a shelter yet."

Neville nodded, "I'll ask Gran if you guys can stay for awhile if it comes to that, Longbottom Manor has some pretty extensive wards."

Luna nodded, "And the Lovegood notice-me-not and confundus wards are some of the best there are."

Ron smirked, "And while Bill won't admit it to anyone, I just know he's been warding our home illegally ever since we started taking Harry in for the summer."

"We'll just have to wait for Harry to contact us; I wouldn't put it past him to blame himself for that night so he very well could be hiding to keep us safe in his eyes." Luna said, sighing before immersing herself back into her Quibbler.

Silence hung heavily in the compartment, before Neville suddenly asked "So any word on what's up with Hermione?"

Ron shook his head, "She hasn't even spoken to me since that night, and she's done nothing but stick her head in a book and shut everything else out."

Ginny looked a little nervous, almost ashamed, but held up her hand. "I was really worried about her so I went ahead and nicked her Diary one night. You wouldn't believe how many locking charms she put on the bloody thing; I almost couldn't remember all of the ones I needed to replace. Anyway, she owled her parents and asked them to change their vacation plans from Spain to France, she wants to check out Beauxbatons."

Ron rubbed the bridge of his nose, "So she's just going to abandon everyone? I didn't think she would be that selfish."

Luna scowled at the redhead opposite her, "Don't be daft Ronald, she was the only one of us save Harry who could have actually died that night. While I don't condone how she's doing it, she is trying to lessen the chances of nearly dying again."

"By abandoning Harry and the rest of us? After her speeches on friendship and loyalty?" he said back heatedly.

"Maybe that's the only option she thinks she has. It's her life and her decision."

The rest of the group grumbled at Luna's words, everyone knowing she had a point but none of them would like to accept it.

The train ride after that was uneventful, no one would bother the group and there really wasn't much to talk about. They spent the rest of the trip in friendly silence with Neville reading up on Herbology while Ginny took out a Teen Witch magazine, Luna keeping her attention to her Quibbler while Ron took out a Transfiguration codex and began practically eating the text as his eyes swam through the pages and soaking it all in.

* * *

Remus Lupin had been taking the disappearance of Harry Potter rather hard, evidenced by the nearly empty firewhiskey bottle in his hands in the middle of the afternoon. His hair had been graying considerably and if anyone were asked they'd say he was rather surly as well. _How could I lose him? He was right there!_ Would swirl through the man's mind for ages, never giving him any respite or rest and even during the full moon his wolf form could do nothing but whimper sadly.

That was what had concerned him these last few days, the full moon had passed and he couldn't be there for Harry. There was no telling what would happen to his cub and it was heart-wrenching to know that Voldemort or the Death Eaters were possibly poking and prodding the wolf with glee, viciously torturing him or breaking his mind.

It was worse than when James and Lily died…worse than when Sirius had died…and the last one had happened so closely with this was like being stabbed by some rusty, silver blade. He couldn't handle it anymore and the constant state of inebriation was a testament of that. Nymphadora Tonks had tried to cheer him up, to simply comfort him even but he had even pushed her away and she hadn't tried again. He didn't blame her though, he was just another monster and no one deserved to be bothered with his presence…it was how he had grown up, the Marauders and Lily were the only ones who had really accepted him once knowledge of his Lycanthropy came out. His father nearly despised him and his mother watched helplessly and rather cowardly as he was mentally and even sometimes physically abused.

He couldn't hold a job, not legally in the Wizarding World and nothing beyond a part-time small job would take him with his requirements, he was unable to make **anyone** proud and it tore him apart every day of his life. Albus had figuratively and literally saved his life many a time and for that he was forever in the man's debt. He would work for the Order, try his hardest to do anything he could to help the Light but lately he had been even more useless than usual and some people weren't adverse to mentioning it during meetings. He would hear it sometimes during the meetings in hushed tones, Hestia and Shacklebolt would make some comment on why he was there, what his purpose was…he could hope that it was just curiosity but his self-loathing only allowed him to see it as hatred for his curse. He wasn't allowed alone with the kids by Molly, even though he had spent an entire school year with children as young as eleven not two years ago.

Molly sometimes looked at him like he would gobble her children up, or somehow curse the entire group mercilessly. He might as well have been Fenrir in her eyes and being seen as the monster that had cursed him In the first place was mentally hard to take.

"Remus?" came a soft voice he had grown to adore, he had hoped against hope that she would come back after he had rebuked her but he hadn't really given himself the chance to really think it would happen.

"I'm in 'ere Tonks." He said with a slur, well aware that he was still quite drunk.

"Oh Remus, why are you drinking this early?" she asked worriedly, nearly running into the room to sit next to him on the couch, watching her step carefully.

"Cuz I can, and 'Arry is still ou there!" he wildly waved, nearly spilling what was left of the bottle. Tonks scowled and took the bottle away from him and frowned further at how little was left.

"How long have you been in here?"

"Whole week." He hiccupped.

She gasped, and looked around to see the dark floor littered with bottles.

"Padfoot had a stock, everything went to me so its mine now!" he groaned, holding his head as his own voice made his ears ring.

"And you just thought you'd work your way through it all in less then a month?" She said with a clear admonishing quality to her question, but it went ignored.

"Yup."

Tonks sighed, looking around the room wondering just how no one had noticed Remus cooped up in this section of Haven with some sort of connection to the Black Family liquor collection. Running a hand through her short pink hair she decided it was time to get him out of this pity party. She did what nearly no one else had ever seen her do; she changed to her native form. Many people had asked over the years and thought wildly that she had golden eyes or deep teal hair or some nonsense but really it was fairly straight forward. She was a Black by blood and had aristocratic features, she even looked a little intimidating when her glare was thrown around and if anything she looked reminiscent of black haired Narcissa. Dark grey eyes and wavy black hair with some of the palest skin she had ever witnessed. She was pretty she knew, even gorgeous, but she had never wanted to be associated with her mother's side of the family and these looks had never been friendly enough for her either.

Well, that and if she used her usual form she also didn't get as many "Hey, look at _those_" looks that she just knew her Black blood would award her.

Remus looked up immediately when he saw her change, he had only once before seen her like this when she had been asleep in her room when the emergency happened with Harry. She had been the first one he had wanted to talk to and it warmed her heart, at least until he went nearly suicidal.

She sat close to him now and put her arm around his shoulder, ignoring the stench of firewhiskey on his breath and put her head on his shoulder. "Everything will be alright Remus, Harry is fine. You'll see."

Somehow if anyone else had told him that, he would have exploded, or cried himself into a stupor but coming from Nymphadora made it somehow more honest, natural and at least a glimmer of hope spread into Remus' system. He nodded, with watery eyes and just hugged the younger woman for all he was worth, trying to rid himself of the pain of the last few weeks.

He couldn't afford to think about Harry much longer, it would drive him mad. Albus had given him a mission to visit the Werewolf packs and try to form some sort of allegiance with them before they all went to Voldemort's side. Remus honestly wasn't sure if he was up for the job, but it would take his mind off of things and hopefully when he came back Harry would be back too.

* * *

Infernal beeping kept grinding its way into his psyche, it was impossibly loud and several other contraptions could be heard in the not so distant background. A groan escaped his lips and somehow he couldn't figure out just where he was. Opening his eyes turned out to be a really bad idea, since being blinded hadn't been his objective.

"Oh thank God, you're awake." Said some loud voice nearby, he scrunched his eyes closed attempting to block the world out, very unsuccessfully.

"Harry?" the voice said again, but the young man only thought '_Who is Harry?'_

Was he Harry? Who would name their child Harry? The headache was fading rapidly and he could feel the numb tingling in his limbs disperse so he could at least twitch a little. He was incredibly parched though…

"Water…" he rasped, reaching towards the voice, whoever it was seemed to have read his mind and soon he was slurping up as much water as he could conceivably gulp down.

"They kept telling me there wasn't much chance of you waking up… I'm very glad they were wrong."

The voice was masculine, and while his memory was beyond awful at the moment he vaguely remembered it being the same voice from the older man who had found him after he hit the road. Hadn't he died though? Maybe the Healers…_Healers? Doctors I mean…_ Maybe the Doctors had fixed him up, though he felt far from near-dead if he was honest.

"Where am I?" he bravely asked, not even knowing if he was still in the UK.

"Somewhere safe, the ambulance came only seconds after you passed out and they were able to save you miraculously." The relief in the voice was evident, but the young man plowed through to the question that was most important to him.

"And…who am I?"

He watched as the older man's eyes widened and he looked around before answering.

"You don't remember? This complicates things; they never said anything about head injuries. Your uniform had 'Harry Potter' stitched in, so we're assuming that's who you are. You had no identification besides that and I'm afraid no one has called in about the alert that was put out for your parents. Blood results should come in within a few days that will have you on record and we can figure things out then."

As soon as the name "Harry Potter" was mentioned, images and sudden facts flashed through his memories. Images of a castle and creatures that shouldn't exist followed images of a man falling through some sort of doorway and not coming out the other end all in a blur of color and sound that he found undistinguishable from anything else. He was Harry Potter, that was clear…but who was Harry Potter exactly?

He hadn't realized that he had practically zoned out for a few minutes before he was shaken by the shoulder. Looking up he saw the older man looking at him with a clearly concerned look on his face. "I'm remembering some things, but not much. I want to thank you for taking me here, but I can't say that I really even know who you are?"

The man smiled softly, leaning back in the chair he had been sitting in to his side. "No thanks are necessary, and you didn't know me before either, I'm Daniel Vine and my family found you in the middle of the road nearly dead. We called 999 and made sure you were alright."

Harry nodded, attempting to remember anything else important about just how he had been on the road in the first place. All he could remember was being thrown from some sort of darkness, but he couldn't have just appeared out of thin air, could he?

"Thank you then Mr. Vine, how long have I been here?"

"Its Daniel, or Dan preferably. And you've been here for a few weeks now. I've been staying here a couple hours a day to keep you company along with my wife and daughter."

Dan had been spending hours of his day watching him for several weeks? Harry found himself feeling lucky to have been found by such a good family.

"What am I supposed to do now?" the sudden thought came out of his mouth without his notice, and the smile almost left Daniel's face.

"Well, until you get more of your memories back or the records tell us where the other Potters are they'll want to keep you here. But I plan on trying to convince them that you can stay with my family so we'll see how that turns out." Dan said brightly.

"You'd do that for me?" Both men were shocked at the meek tone that came with such a question.

"Of course, I don't like to brag about it but my family is fairly well off and we have the room. I can't imagine what would happen if no information was found for another few weeks, I know I'd go mental myself if I had to stay here that long."

Harry couldn't help but agree, the conversation was only slightly distracting him from the strong odor of the room and the forever irritating sounds of all the machines. Was it normal for his senses to be this powerful when waking up from a coma?

His thoughts were interrupted by a young twenty something female nurse walking into the room, reeking of perfume and other smells that Harry couldn't quite place. Her smile was clearly fake and if anything she seemed to be rather tired if the loose ponytail and haggard body language was to be taken seriously. She walked in without a word and began checking on the machinery, not even slightly taken by surprise that the occupant was awake, did she not know he had been in a coma? Daniel seemed to be thinking the same thing if his annoyed expression was anything to go by.

"Looks all fine, I'll go get the Doctor and he'll make a final diagnosis." She said softly, leaving the room again without another word. Just what the hell was that about?

Within a few moments large man who looked even worse off than the young nurse came in with a barely masked grin, not even bothering to check the machines himself.

"Hello Mr. Potter, I'm Doctor Agnes and I've got some very good news for you."

_Well that is a name you don't hear very often, and why does he smell so familiar? Do I know this man?_

"I'm Daniel Vine Dr. Agnes, thank you for treating Harry here." Dan said gesturing towards the young man sitting up in his bed.

"Yes, Yes, you're the mug-err man who found the boy, yes?" he said quickly, nearly stumbling over his words, Harry was curious as to what 'mug' could possible have been.

"I am…" Daniel said hesitantly, clearly unnerved by how this was going too.

"Well I applaud your loyalty to the young man but his family has been found and he's in perfect health to be released today."

Daniel sputtered slightly, looking more than a little aggravated. "And why was I not informed of this earlier?"

"Because it was on a need to know basis Mr. Vine, all classified information I'm afraid."

_Classified? Just who the hell am I?_

Daniel voiced the very same thought.

"As I said, need to know basis. I'm afraid you will have to say your goodbyes, the room will be vacated within a few minutes."

"Fine, give us a minute will you?" Daniel bit out, forcing the Doctor to huff before leaving the room.

"Harry, I know we don't know each other real well but its summer and it would be a pleasure if you could come over for dinner sometime. Here's my number and address, I'm sure my family would love to see you again, in a less…battered form." He grinned, putting a piece of paper into Harry's gown pocket.

"Of course, thanks for the offer. Whatever this all turns out to be I'm sure you'll be seeing me again." He replied.

"I hope so." Daniel said, "Good luck Harry, I hope your memories come back soon." he continued before surprising the young man by hugging him before leaving the room and glaring at the Doctor who stood right outside.

Harry still was unable to shake off the feeling that he knew this man, and asked the Doctor about it point blank. Most of the color in the Doctor's face drained but he denied that they knew each other. Harry was then forced to endure the removal of several tubes and disconnection of the machines that had been connected to him for the past few weeks and somehow the Doctor looked like he had no idea what he was doing for the first few minutes.

"Alright, now if you'll follow me Mr. Potter." Doctor Agnes said quickly, barely making sure that the young man was following him out the door.

The hospital smelt horrible, cleaning supplies and liberal use of fresheners made Harry's nose twitch constantly and the sound of nearly anything squeaky was enough to make the young man want to jump out of the nearest window. Following the Doctor down more than a few hallways he found that the crowded feel of his original section of the Hospital was lost the further they went, in fact the farther he followed he noticed just how barren the Hospital became. Some of the lights were flickering and Harry found that the Doctor was looking back at him far too much to be appropriate, was he nervous about something or was it just his imagination?

And finally Doctor Agnes stopped after they passed through a double sided doorway, turning around to look straight at Harry with his grin unhidden.

"We were looking quite a while for you Mr. Potter, how did you find yourself on a muggle road in the middle of nowhere?" he said roughly, his voice could no longer be mistaken in any way as 'friendly'.

_Was muggle the word he almost used when talking to Dan?_

"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry said forcefully, his fight or flight responses kicking in telling him by instinct that this was not a safe situation.

"Oh? Did you go and conk you head Potter? Should make things easier I suppose." Agnes said taking out some sort of large stick from his inside pocket and pointing it directly at Harry.

The stick triggered another onslaught of images, a memory of him holding a stick and it lighting up a musty shop when he was younger. Countless memories of him swishing and flicking and doing absurd movements with the stick…a wand and getting a spell to work correctly. Latin words flying through his mind at a pace he couldn't keep up with and a massive headache to accompany it all with.

_Spell? Wand? Magic? What the bloody hell is going on here?_

"Oh, so you do know what this is then? Perhaps you weren't made a complete muggle then. No matter, you're unarmed so I'll make your death painless. Avada-!"

That word, those three syllables caused yet another wave of memories to blur through Harry's mind, female screams and green lights, a young man looking terrified and falling lifelessly after some inhuman shout of "Kill the spare!" Those three syllables meant something horrible to Harry and it was inescapable the pain that those three syllables had caused in his life already. That word…those three syllables meant death.

"Kedavra!" Agnes finished, the green light rocketing towards an empty point in space as Potter dashed to the side and hit the wall before giving Agnes a look filled with rage.

"How dare you!" Harry shouted, anger from the last few memories clouding his mind as some sort of howl could be heard throughout his psyche, instincts flooding his mind.

"Do not try to escape this Potter! You will die here and now!" Agnes shouted, casting some other spell in words that Harry could not understand. Yellow instead of green, but the initial _feel_ of the spell could be understood as lethal. Harry dived again, rolling nearly effortlessly across the floor before coming up and standing closer to Agnes. Before he could even think his mouth opened up and he growled at the 'Doctor', causing both to have a shocked look for a split second.

More words, and more lights followed by Harry attempting to find a way to escape the situation. His instincts were telling him to kill the man, he deserved no less. But what could he do against this magic user?

"Stop fooling around you child! Stand still and die like your worthless mother!" Agnes said ruthlessly.

Something snapped in Harry, images of a redheaded woman and the screams of a female coalesced into knowing just what he was talking about. Lily Potter…his mother had died to save him, no one would ever insult her.

Rage like nothing he had felt before surfaced, the growling was subconscious now and Harry felt himself rippling with power, he watched in morbid wonder as his arm started looking like some sort of clay mold that had yet to be glazed, morphing slowly and deliberately. Soon his face felt odd, his entire body seeming to shudder under the power he was feeling. Agnes watched in horror as within moments the young man he had come to kill for his Master turned into the wolf that had nearly slaughtered him a few weeks prior. He couldn't fight this beast, no one could, but his first instinct had always been to curse first and ask questions later and no sooner had he remembered just how much danger he was in had the Killing Curse left his wand and shot into the side of the large creature before him.

Harry felt powerful, there was so much strength. He saw the green curse hit him with fascination as nothing happened to him, shouldn't he die? The thought was tucked away for another time as instincts became more relevant and he lunged towards the magic-user. His magic was no use to him when Harry used claws, teeth and raw hatred to fuel a bloodlust that somehow could not be sated until the man underneath him lay unrecognizable.

His senses were even more powerful now; he could hear the crowded activity of the other side of the Hospital while the tearing fused with screams of agony that somehow made him feel content. He could smell the blood, the fear and the adrenaline and finally found just why he knew this man. His magic was familiar but he couldn't place it, he had crossed paths with this Wizard before.

Blood coated his claws, but the taste of this man's blood had stopped Harry from outright ripping out his throat. This was no challenge and it was almost disappointing how easily the human died, it was becoming clear to Harry now that he was not altogether human, but it didn't seem to bother him as much as he thought it should. It was part of his life, anther mystery he would have to solve. He could have gotten information from this Wizard, but it was too late now, the man wouldn't be able to speak ever again and Harry somehow knew that this would be a good thing for mankind.

It felt like justice somehow, as if he still could remember in the back of his mind that this man had done horrible things to others. It was a good kill; this man would never be mistaken as an innocent in Harry's eyes.

The anger and rage that had before felt so prominent was ebbing away from him, soon Harry found himself rippling back into human form again panting softly with blood everywhere but on his skin. Looking at his hands in a new light, he wondered if there were any others like him out there. Would he be a danger to others? Sure he had killed, but this man had meant to kill him and it was self defense, right?

Now that the battle high was drained from him Harry began to sway slightly, holding himself up against the nearest wall. He needed to leave, there was no way he could get away with murder if he let himself be found by the hospital employees. He dug his hand into the robe that oddly still clothed him and found the piece of paper with Daniel's number and address. Could he go there? Would he be risking their lives? This Harry Potter person was clearly not friendly with some powerful people. In the end it wasn't much of a choice, he needed somewhere to stay for now and he would just have to hope for the best.

_Somehow I wonder if I'll regret finding out who I am in the end…_

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_**A/N Another chapter completed, though it took some time with this one. Updates will be sporadic but I have not given up on the story, things are just a little hectic lately. Hope you enjoyed the chapter guys! Reviews welcome!**_


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